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Mayor Strommen stated that she would also like to see a picture for the next few years, assuming <br />that everything remains constant. She noted that she is not as concerned with the impact this <br />year but the impact that would occur next year and the year after that. <br />Councilmember Williams stated that she is not comfortable with the services that would be <br />provided by the code enforcement position. She stated that she would like to see how the current <br />City staff could provide additional value to reach the desired goals. She believed that the City <br />could do more with what the City currently has and believed that adding three full-time positions <br />is a big ask. <br />Mayor Strommen stated that residents have a certain level of service that they expect and <br />recognized that there is a balance that needs to be found in order to provide that level of service. <br />Councilmember Riley stated that this should be a fairly easy year as there is already a five <br />percent increase in property values. He asked how the City is in the position that this is hard, as <br />previous years had a decrease in property values. He stated that next year the property value <br />increase could be one or two percent, which will require hard budget decisions. <br />Mayor Strommen stated that it is almost easier to decide what to cut when money is tight <br />because the decisions are limited. She explained that when there is an increase in values the <br />decisions need to be made in regard to how funds are invested. <br />Finance Director Lund stated that in order to reach the 5.2 percent mentioned by Councilmember <br />Riley, $280,000 would need to be decreased. <br />Mayor Strommen noted that additional information is needed from staff and additional <br />discussion is needed; therefore, this item will come back to a future work session. She explained <br />that the Council would like to see information on the impact on public works and the ability to <br />get work done and in regard to the code enforcement position the ability to turn around license <br />applications. <br />Ramsey Resident Bill Kingston stated that he would support the three positions and would like to <br />see what the positions mean to property owners. He explained that would better help determine <br />whether the potential increase or decrease is worth it. <br />2.03: Review Special Assessments Policy <br />City Engineer Westby reviewed the staff report. <br />Councilmember Kuzma asked for additional information on how frontage is determined for <br />assessment. <br />City Engineer Westby explained that direct access is determined by how the property is accessed <br />by vehicle, specifically the driveway access. <br />City Council Work Session / November 10, 2015 <br />Page 4 of 7 <br />