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Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gilbertson, Councilmembers Cich, Beyer, Hardin and
<br />Pcterson. Voting No: None.
<br />
<br />PRESENTATION
<br />
<br />Senalor Greg Dahl ,,,,,as present and expressed his appreciation of the opportunity to visit with the
<br />Ramsev City Council. He also introduced his wife Stacy. He commented that the biggest concern
<br />at this boint' seems to be. budget cutting. He reported there was no way of knowing what the cuts
<br />would be; hov,,ever, sometimes budget cuts offer the opportunity to look at other state progTams
<br />and make necessaU, changes. He stated that the Governor had announced he would try to balance
<br />the budget in its entirety with cuts. This may mean n shift of funding from the State to Local
<br />Government v,,hich could increase taxes. H~ added that the transfer of payments are the. vast
<br />ma. ioriLv of the budget and with all the cuts being discussed, the government has to become more
<br />creative to look at means to cut programs to balance the budget. He compared it to a familv who
<br />has to tighten its budget where they only buy what is absolutely necessary and he felt the State
<br />needs to also look at the most important items in the budget. He stated ~hat the budget is figured
<br />out for 9.2-1/2 ,,,ears in advnnce and it's difficult to determine the amounts to tile dime. t% stated
<br />that it is not known what exactly will hnppen, but thai a recession is predicted and the gap between
<br />revenue and expenditures can only be closed by spending tess money. He stated an initinl idea '.vas
<br />tha~ if there wasn't a recession, the budget could be balanced using reserve accounts: however, two
<br />weeks ago, i~ ,,,,,as announced that bigger budget problems were forthcoming so the reserve
<br />accounts needed to be kept intact. The only way to balance the budget without dipping into the
<br />reserved budget would be to make cuts. The decisions are tough to make. Upon inquiry as far as
<br />foreseeing raising levy limits for local governments, Senator Dahl replied that he had never served
<br />on the Senate Tax Committee and although he was well informed in tax areas, he did not claim to
<br />be an expert. He added the local units of government should be allowed to raise the levy on the
<br />local level. He added that he had heard all levy limits would be eliminated - if the',, are eliminated,
<br />we might see too much increase. This is under discussion by the Senate 2'ax Committee.
<br />Councitmember Peterson expressed concern with school district cuts stating they've had cuts in the
<br />past and haven't received any other funding. Senator DaN said the funding has to be there. He
<br />reported that he had worked on a number of environmental issues. One pro~ject included the
<br />recycling of car batteries. He wanted a program with no government involvement so he worked
<br />with retailers, smelters and service stations to put together the bill. The deal was - you buy a new
<br />batte~, and bring in your old one or else you pa!' $5.00 more. This is country wide now. There is
<br />no state agency employee involved; only private sector and incentive. One needs to be creative in
<br />structuring programs. You can accomplish the results you '.,,,ant without burden to local
<br />governments by trying to find an efficient, cost effective program. Senator DaN stated he had
<br />served for nine >,ears and saved hundreds of millions of dollars by asking tough questions and
<br />making them .justify the progTam or the pro,am is cut. As soon as five million dollars has been
<br />saveci, it gets swallowed up.He added that he's as fiscally conservative as can be. He's
<br />encouraged when he sees }lis co]leagues asking the tough questions. He reported there is a
<br />continued increase in medical assistance and it has been that way for the last five years. This
<br />program is staling money from education, etc. Tougher questions need to be asked with regard to
<br />welfare. A "gate-keeper" Lvpe of system could be effective with regard to v,,elfare. We must meet
<br />the needs, but do it cost effectively nnd also accountability is needed. Senator DaN closed v,,ith a
<br />thank vou and gave his office and ~ome phone numbers in case anyone wanted to discuss anything
<br />with him, had a problem or any questions.
<br />
<br />Case #9: Development of Flintwood Hills 5th Addition
<br />
<br />Mr. Art Raudio expressed his ~atitude to City Staff for working with him and doing what was
<br />right to get his plat approved. He explained that in 1984 he did Flintwood Hills as a PUD and that
<br />he did the 3rd and 4th Additions based on that procedure and precedent. No,,,,' he has a chance to
<br />sell the last lots out of Flintwood Hills so he, thought he follow the same procedure for final plat
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<br />City Council/February 12:1991
<br /> Page 10 of 1'2
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