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how best to grow in the future. She stated that she is comfortable with the decisions for this year <br />but is more concerned with the decisions that will come in three to five years. <br />Councilmember LeTourneau stated that he is comfortable with the budget as proposed as this <br />follows the direction that Council has given staff. He noted that continued discussion can occur <br />about prioritizing items in the budget and five-year plan. He agreed that he also had some sticker <br />shock on the five-year plan noting that these are the challenges that come with being a growing <br />community. He stated that in the future the tax capacity will be increasing as well and will assist <br />in that growth the City needs to make. <br />Councilmember Kuzma stated that when the Council had the budget discussions the previous <br />year there was concern that there would be a larger increase this year but noted that he is <br />comfortable with the budget as proposed. <br />Councilmember Shryock stated that this is a reasonable budget as proposed noting that the <br />Council can continue to have discussions in the next few months to determine if additional cuts <br />would be made to decrease the budget. <br />Mayor Strommen summarized that the Council is generally accepting of the budget as proposed <br />with the consensus that discussion will continue to determine if additional decreases could be <br />made to the budget and additionally in regard to the five-year plan. She expressed appreciation <br />to Finance Director Lund and the staff that assisted her in creating the five-year projection as that <br />is an important planning tool. <br />Finance Director Lund highlighted some of the items on the five-year projection which will <br />require future discussion including road debt, the public works facility, and funding for capital <br />equipment. <br />Mayor Strommen stated that some of the focus has been to invest in items which will assist in <br />building the tax capacity as that additional capacity will help the City to continue to grow. She <br />stated that perhaps separate from the budget discussions there should be a discussion regarding <br />long-term planning for the future. <br />Councilmember Williams agreed that she would like to have that discussion as well and would <br />like to consider how TIF plays a role in growing the commercial development. <br />City Administrator Ulrich agreed that the Council could have some of those discussions <br />regarding future decisions and funding options. He noted that the Charter Commission will <br />receive a presentation regarding TIF districts. <br />Finance Director Lund stated that perhaps that would be a good time to revisit the idea of <br />franchise fees. <br />Mayor Strommen stated that may be a good item to engage the public on as well, identifying <br />items that will be necessary or desired as the community grows to determine desires of the <br />residents and also involving funding options. <br />City Council Work Session / September 13, 2016 <br />Page 3 of 5 <br />