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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — NOVEMBER 10, 2025 7 Councilmember Monson is open to reducing the EDA levy and she wants to transfer the $165,000. She said if we don't add to the PIR Fund we can't fund the things that are core for the City. She is not okay with it being zero. She would be open to reducing it a little to try to lower the levy points. She said we have the General Fund, the PIR Fund, the EDA Fund, the Equipment Building Fund, Public Safety Fund. All of those things should be self-sustaining. They shouldn't be relying on General Fund revenue. Transferring General Fund dollars out of that operating fund to help support funding another bucket is not sustainable. She would like to get away from assuming the General Fund will float the rest of our funds. It appears there is a $500,000 savings, but she isn't interested in transferring that money to a fund that we previously chose not to fund with a sustainable approach. She asked if we reduced the PIR by $60,000 would we be out of the red in five years? Ten years? Finance Director Yang said if we increase the PIR levy by $120,000 annually, and shifted the PMP Projects, we would be green for the next 10 years. Without shifting the projects, we would be in the green through 2029. Councilmember Weber is pleased to hear we're coming in under budget for the year. That is like a bonus. This year's success is next year's benefit and it shouldn't impact how we make any decisions right now. Councilmember Holden said in the past, the City has always underfunded the budget a small amount. These are estimates and things happen. The PIR Fund is looking out 20 years and shows us in the hole. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen has a replacement schedule. We may not approve every single thing. The numbers are plugged in to create the estimates but that doesn't mean it will all happen. If we move under that presumption, we might as well raise the levy to 30%. Mayor Grant agrees. Projects are lined up ten years out. They may not happen exactly the way they are laid out in the schedule. We are planning, but they may not happen in that year or in that amount. We need to manage. This year the Fire Department, Police Department and City Staff increases are all coming due at once. He would like to smooth that trend before increasing the levy. He sees the need for Capital. He thinks $180,000 is too high in a year like this. We should not be at 18%. Councilmember Weber agrees we should not be in this position. He said underfunding the levy previously is exactly why we are in this position. We should be trying to fix this PIR Fund. It is in a dire state because of lack of attention. Councilmember Holden said we have always had a surplus to carry over to fill this stuff. We have the money out there. She doesn't want to hear it's because it's been underfunded. A lot of things have come due all at the same time. We have done well. People love living in Arden Hills. They are happy. They like that the taxes are low. It brings in businesses. Residents have affordable homes where they aren't paying the same tax as other communities. She said it's always blamed on everyone else. We didn't have the PIR Fund in dire straits until about two years ago. We don't have to speak loudly to make sure everyone will take our side. We need to look at what we have. Mayor Grant said we are currently projecting approximately a $500,000 surplus. Staff is not overspending their budgets. We have a lot of budget centers. There should always be the budget