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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 17 Councilmember Monson asked if that was the Utility Lead or a Public Works Lead. She clarified Councilmember Holden is not talking about the Parks Manager position. Councilmember Holden confirmed. Councilmember Monson would be comfortable with that. Then wait on the Parks Manager position until the middle of the year. She pointed out that they just cut 5%. She is open to discussing other options. Mayor Grant is not comfortable with the levy increases. He shared the proposed levy increases for surrounding cities. Councilmember Holden would like to know how the Council feels about the $155,000 for the Comp and Class study. Councilmember Monson said as they walked through it earlier, the $155,000 remained in there. Mayor Grant thinks that is what staff thought Council was offering. Councilmember Monson said when this was discussed originally, she thought it was the $124,000, not $155,000. She said that was new information. Discussion ensued regarding underfunded revenues from 2024 to 2025. Councilmember Rousseau asked how the City has been trending with the underfunding. She asked if that is typical for past Councils. Mayor Grant said it's not uncommon for councils to do that. You either increase the revenue or you can't spend all of your budget. Historically we have come in pretty close. Councilmember Holden said we're pulling the permit software conversion. She asked if the Master Park Plan needed to be done next year, if we aren't hiring the Parks Manager until July. That person will come in and not know the parks. Mayor Grant said it's important to prioritize the five trails. We want to do all of those. Finance Director Yang said the Master Parks Plan is in the PIR fund. It impacts the fund balance, not necessarily the levy. Discussion ensued regarding how past councils have delayed projects and allowed some funds to be underfunded. Mayor Grant said Council should account for some underfunded amount. He thought $190,000 is not a good number but maybe $150,000 is okay. The levy is $5.6 million. He doesn't think every single dime of that will be spent. Last year the actual amount came in within $9,000. Some years you will be above and some years you'll be below. You can't fund it to the max, every time.