Minutes - Council - 10/28/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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should research further. She inquired if it was possible to delay the implementation of the fi'ancbise fee until April so that they could have more time to research additional revenue options. If it is not possible to hold off until April she would want to review the status of the budget in six months to see if the franchise fee was still necessary. Councihnember Zimmennan stated that he has not voted in favor of implementing a franchise fee in the past and he will not vote in favor of it now. That being said he thought the Council should wait until April before they implement the franchise fee to allow the City time to see what the legislature will do for 2004. Mayor Gamec replied that if they delay the implementation of the franchise fee they would have to put a freeze on all the departments. Councilmember Kurak noted that residents may be looking at a $72 a year fee per meter, but the school bond levy will be decreasing and so will property taxes. Councilmember Cook stated that he did not think that any of the Councilmembers were taking the issue lightly. He goes to work everyday and will also have to pay the franchise fee. The Council has spent many hours looking at the budget and they just don't have many options. As a City they can't go out and make more money for the City like you can do as a private entity. Councihnember Elvig questioned if they were to make assumptions similar to what he suggested couldn't they proceed with accepting the budget as has been discussed and then if they come up short the Council could look at implementing the franchise fee in April. Tabling action until April gives the Council time to see what will happen as far as revenues rather than charging residents a fee which may not be needed and not being able to give it back. Mayor Gamec felt that if the Council proceeds with the current budget not knowing where the revenues will come from they could find themselves in more trouble. City Administrator Norman stated that it was not possible for staff to respond to the potential revenue sources because they were just presented the information. He noted that he would have some concerns with some of the suggestions made. Mr. Norman was more concerned with attempting to risk a shortfall rather than the risk of charging too much to the citizens. The City has to have a plan in place that they can back off on rather than hoping for something to correct itself. Councilmember Strommen stated that they have to look at the conservative side of things and if there are options that allow them to do that they should research those options. If they are at a point where they are at that conservative level then they should move forward with the franchise fee and review it in six months. If in six months they find that they had adequate revenues to cover the budget and no longer need a franchise fee she will not vote in favor of continuing the fi'anchise fee. City Council/October 28, 2003 Page 8 of 18