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Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gilbertson, Councilmembers etch, Beyer, Hardin and Peterson. Voting No: None. PRESENTATION Senator Greg Dah] was present and expressed his appreciation of the opportunity to visit with the Ramsev City Council. He also introduced his wife Stacy. He commented that the biggest concern at this point seems lo be budget cutting. He reported there was no wa.,,, of knowing what the cuts wot~lcl be; however, sometimes budget cuts offer the opportunity to look at other state prog-rams and make necessars..' changes. He stated that the Governor had announced he would try to balance the budget in its entirety with cuts. This may mean a shift of funding from the State to Local Government which could increase taxes. He added that the transfer of payments are the vast majority of the budget and with all the cuts being discussed, the government has to become more creative to look at means to cut programs to balance the budget. He compared it to a family who has to tighten its budget where they only buy what is absolutely necessary and he felt the State needs to also look al the most importam items in the budget. He stated that the budget is figured out for 2-1/2 years itl advance and it's difficult to determine the amounts to the dime. He stated that it is not known what exactly will happen, but that a recession is predicted and the gap between revenue and expenditures can only be closed by spending less money. He stated an initial idea was that if there wasn't a recession, tile budget could be balanced using reserve accounts; however, two weeks ago, it was announced that bigger budget problems were forthcoming so the reserve accounts needed to be kept intact. The only wa), to balance the budget without dipping into the reserved budget would be to make cuts. The decisions are tough to make. Upon inquiry as far as foreseeing raising lex,), limits for local governments, Senator Dahl replied that he had never served on the Senate Tax Committee and although tie was well informed in tax areas, he did not claim to be an expert. He added the local units of government should be allowed to raise the levy on the local level. He added that he had heard all levy limits would be eliminated - if they are eliminated, we might see too much increase. This is under discussion by the Senate Tax Comn'fittee. Councilmember Peterson expressed concern with school district cuts stating they've had cuts in the past and haven't received an), other funding. Senator Dahl said the funding has to be there. He reported that he had worked on a number of environmental issues. One project included the recycling of car batteries. He wanted a program with no government involvement so he worked with retailers, smelters and sen, ice stations to put together the bill. The deal `,vas - you bu,,' a new batter5..' and bring in your old one or else you pa.',, $5.00 more. This is country wide now. ':l"here is no state agency employee involved; only private sector and incentive. One needs to be creative in structuring programs. You can accomplish the results you ;',,ant without burden to local governments by trying to find an efficient, cost effective program. Senator Dahl stated he had served for nine .,,,ears and saved hundreds of millions of dollars by asking tough questions and making them justify the pro,am or the progn'am is cut. As soon as five million dollars has been saved, it gets swallowed up.He added that he's as fiscally conservative as can be. He's encouraged when he sees his colleagues asking the tough questions. He reported there is a continued increase in medical assistance and it has been that way for the last five years. This program is staling money from education, etc. Tougher questions need to be asked with regard to '.':.irate. A gate-keeper type of system could be effective with regard to welfare. We must meet tile needs, but do it cost effectively and also accountability is needed. Senator Dahl closed with a thank you and gave his office and ilome phone numbers in case anyone wanted to discuss anything with him, had a problem or any questions. Case #9: Development of Flintwood Hills 5th Addition Mr. Art Raudio expressed his g'ratitude to City Staff for working with him and doing what was right to get his plat approved. He explained that in 1984 he did Flintwood Hills as a PUD and that he did the 3rd and 4th Additions based on that procedure and precedent. No,.,,, he has a chance to sell the last tots out of Flimwood Hills so he thought he follow the same procedure for final plat City Council/February 12, 1991 Page 10 of 12