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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 8 Councilmember Holden asked if there was any word on the Safer Grant. City Administrator Perrault explained the City would be hearing back on this in October. Mayor Grant stated he was uneasy about adding this many new fire captains in a short period of time. He believed the Fire Board needed to take a good hard look at this. He commented further on the ongoing expense of supporting these six fire captains. Councilmember Monson discussed how the Safer Grant would assist with covering the expense for the new fire captains. She commented on how the fire department was moving in the direction of being staffed full time. Councilmember Holden stated it was her understanding the fire board would be adding four fire captains, two in one year and two the following year. She commented on how there was a need to shift to a full-time department because people were no longer interested in volunteering. She hoped the department would be able to balance its staffing level with the number of calls they were responding to. She indicated she was worried about moving forward with the preliminary budget given the fact the Council does not have the final numbers from the Fire Board. She commented further on how the County and other taxing districts would impact Arden Hills residents. Councilmember Fabel reported the Council had extensive discussion on the proposed budget and the Council was now being told to fund this budget a 16% levy increase would be required. He recommended in order to honest and responsible, the Council should have a preliminary levy that would fund the proposed budget. He indicated the Council could then work to reduce this budget between now and December. He understood the proposed increase would still keep the City's tax rate lower than any other city in Ramsey County. Councilmember Monson stated when reviewing the budget and levy she understood public safety expenditures were driving the majority of the increase. She agreed the Council would benefit from having further information from the fire board and noted she would be fine waiting two weeks to consider the preliminary budget and tax levy. Mayor Grant requested staff speak to what other cities were proposing for their tax levies for 2024. City Administrator Perrault reviewed the proposed tax levies for the communities surrounding Arden Hills. He commented further on how property values have changed in the past year for residential and commercial properties in the community. Councilmember Fabel stated in addition to the assessed changes, State law assigns a different rate to commercial properties. Councilmember Rousseau explained she supported the City moving forward with a preliminary levy in a responsible manner. In addition, she supported the City filling vacant positions as soon as possible. She indicated the proposed levy did not take into consideration the Safer Grant. She noted she looked forward to hearing from the Fire Board if they would be pursuing three or six fire captains in 2024.