Minutes - Council Work Session - 08/23/2022

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Finance Director Lund started the discussion on the net effects on taxpayers. She mentioned the request from the August 8, 2022 meeting to put the road levy portion onto the debt and what the effects of that would be on the taxes. Finance Director Lund used the 2022 Final Levy numbers to calculate the net tax effect to the taxpayer of having the additional $1,145,607. Acting Mayor Riley explained that he looks at this as building blocks. The big decision has been made, so he looks at where that puts them. He asked if this meant an 8.5% increase. Finance Director Lund directed Acting Mayor Riley to look at the median home which is around 9%. Councilmember Musgrove asked if this was for the bonding onto the debt portion of the levy. Finance Director Lund said yes that it is on the debt portion. Acting Mayor Riley explained that they had weeded out some of the options and decided that this option, option three, was the best way forward. Finance Director Lund next discussed the questions from the August 8, 2022 Work Session. She addressed the first question of how much would the Recreation Specialists be if it went from the current 29 hours to 30 hours or 40 hours. She explained that the major increase for 30 hours is for health insurance; however, the health insurance from 30 to 40 hours does not change. The health insurance is based off of a waiver that will go into effect in September for single coverage. She asked if the Council wanted her to go into detail about what the Recreation Specialist would do. Acting Mayor Riley asked Finance Director Lund to focus on the numbers now and the position details could be revisited later. Finance Director Lund moved on to the discussion of the non-discretionary ideas the Council had to work with, such as, the COLA that has been locked in, the positions that were not in the original 2022 budget but have since been authorized, such as, the HR Specialist, Fire Captain of Administration which is on for adoption this evening, and the DUI Officer. She discussed the union wages. Because health insurance is still negotiable within the contract, she believes it can still be requested, and this is the 9% single increase and the 4.5% family increase. Councilmember Woestehoff asked Finance Director Lund if items two and three in this section were for the projected 2023 costs. Finance Director Lund stated that under the Public Works Director she did the 2022 rate because the 2023 rate was never included in the budget; however, the rest of the numbers are for 2023. Acting Mayor Riley asked if the Council has already approved these positions. Finance Director Lund explained that with the exception of the Fire Captain of Administration, the Council has authorized to hire this position and she believed that the hire is on officially this evening. She added that she believes that the Street Maintenance Worker is going back out for City Council Work Session / August 23, 2022 Page 3 of 16