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<br />Councilmember Olson replied there are a lot of things that can be done, but employees are <br />needed to do them. She expressed concern with waiting much longer to add the Communication <br />position. <br /> <br />Councilmember Pearson expressed concern with cutting the budget to a point where the City will <br />need to play catch up. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey expressed support in bringing the budget back to the 39.8% as it was <br />originally put forward to the residents. He stated half way through the year tough decisions <br />needed to be made with cuts to the budget due to fees not coming as expected. He does not like <br />taking positions out of the budget, but the long term impact is personnel, and reprioritization may <br />be needed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Olson indicated it should be noted that the number of foreclosures are <br />increasing. One effect of this is that taxes may not get paid. Secondly, looking forward to future <br />years, most of the foreclosure properties will go down in value. The result of this is that the <br />value of homes may not go up as much as anticipated. <br /> <br />Finance Officer Lund advised it should be noted that after 2008 the amount of debt service for <br />this building will double from $800,000 to $1.6 million. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey stressed the importance of keeping the budget as tight as possible due to <br />the likely increases in the future. He noted the overall budget is increasing, but being cut back <br />from the original request. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way stated as times get tough the Police Department gets busier. The Police <br />Department has added 10 bodies over the last 12 years, and has not added to office staff to <br />handle the paper work that continues to grow. Calls are up significantly from last year and will <br />continue to grow. He had originally requested a full time employee, which was scaled back to <br />half time and he has suggested eliminating the intern. This half time position is a $22,000 <br />position and it is really needed at this time. He has employees that cannot get all their work <br />done. The Police Department is taking on extra things, which is driven by the public that wants <br />them to be involved. The department heads looked hard at these budgets and worked hard to get <br />the numbers down and determine what they could do without. <br /> <br />Public Works Director Olson stated last year the Engineering Department was able to be flexible <br />in recouping money and was able to decrease consultant fees. Staff asked the consultants <br />specifically when sending out for professional services to put in costs for inspection service for <br />each of the big projects. Approximately $160,000 was able to be cut from consultant fees due to <br />staff being on hand. Mr. Olson stated there is only a certain amount of staff, and last year it was <br />not until May at the completion of the public hearing process for the street maintenance program <br />that staff earned there was a concern about drainage within a neighborhood. The intention for <br />2007 was to try to meet with the residents in January; this requires manpower and staff. <br />Regarding the flat line of market values, he agrees that might be the case, but there were 560 <br />building permits issued in 2004, and the results ofthat are being seen this year. Mr. Olson stated <br />the direction at the last work session was clear. Staff was directed to determine what is <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / November 28, 2006 <br />Page 3 of 4 <br />