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<br />Councilmember Stewart said she is not supportive of the Communications Specialist or the Parks <br />Maintenance Worker roles, as she would like to see them not have year-over-year increases in <br />these departments. She suggested waiting until the 2027 budget season to revisit these roles. She <br />stated she is supportive of the Firefighter/Fire Technician role. She added that she is not <br />completely comfortable with the 7.5% increase. <br /> <br />Councilmember Peters said he is supportive of the Parks Maintenance Worker and the <br />Firefighter/Fire Technician role, as well as the overall increase. He noted that he thinks the <br />Communications Specialist role could be pushed out another year. <br /> <br />Councilmember Olson shared that he sees the value in the Communications Specialist position and <br />how it will help with future succession planning, so he is supportive of all three discussed roles. <br />He said he is supportive of the overall levy increase as well. <br /> <br />Councilmember Riley noted that instead of finding areas to cut from the budget, they were able to <br />find additional revenue. He said that if he had known that they could find this additional revenue, <br />then he would not have suggested a 7.5% overall increase. He stated he is still not fully supportive <br />of the proposed budget. He noted that he is not supportive of any of the three roles that were <br />discussed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Buscher said she is comfortable with the 7.5% increase and all three proposed <br />positions. She noted that holding off on any of these positions will not help anything, as the growth <br />of the City is not holding off. <br /> <br />Mayor Heineman said he is comfortable with the increase as presented. He shared that he is also <br />supportive of all three of the discussed positions. He noted that one piece of feedback they have <br />gotten from residents is that they want better communication from the City, and the <br />Communications Specialist can help with this. He said that they want to stay ahead of the growth <br />of the City, which is why there is a need for the Firefighter/Fire Technician. He added that they <br />want the parks to look good and be well-maintained, and want the Waterfront facility to be <br />successful, which is why there is a need for the Parks Maintenance Worker. <br /> <br />Councilmember Riley noted that they still have a healthy HRA fund balance and asked if they <br />should use any of it to buy down the 7.5% increase. <br /> <br />City Administrator Hagen said they could do this, as this is a flexible fund. He noted that the <br />downside to using the fund balance is that they could possibly limit themselves in the future for <br />other needs. <br /> <br />Mayor Heineman asked how much they would need to buy down the levy to get to a 6.5% overall <br />increase. <br /> <br />Finance Director Lund said it would be over $200,000. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / August 26, 2025 <br />Page 4 of 7 <br /> <br />