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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — NOVEMBER 10, 2025 9 Councilmember Monson will hold at the $180,000. She would like to see where we land after that EDA reduction of just under one levy point. Councilmember Holden said there was a $10,000 increase under Council for contractual services for Mayor and Council. We went from $42,000 in 2024 to $52,000 in 2025. How much did we use in 2025? We increased if by inflation to get to the 2026 number. If strategic planning isn't in there for 2026, shouldn't we take some of that out? Finance Director Yang said the $10,000 is in there. Councilmember Monson is looking at the option where the balanced levy includes $180,000 for the PIR Fund, taking the $165,000 from the excess franchise fees and decreasing the EDA from $100,000 to $50,000. This is a levy of 15.23%. Councilmember Rousseau said she is interested in increasing the PIR by $180,000. She asked if there is $10,000 for implementation of the Park Master Plan. Finance Director Yang confirmed. Councilmember Holden noted that under Planning and Zoning, the contractual services amount is nearly doubled. She said we have hired a Community Development Director. He should be able to do most of this work. City Administrator Jagoe said in 2024 and 2025, the Planning and Zoning Code updates were budgeted. The budgeted amount remained the same in 2026 in anticipation of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment. We will do the same amount in 2027. Councilmember Weber said he supports the $180,000 for the PIR levy. Mayor Grant said there is reason to beef up the PIR. He doesn't think this is the year to do it. He said maybe it's not zero, but he thinks $180,000 this year is too high. Maybe it's zero, maybe $50,000 or $60,000. That wouldn't get us in the green in 10 years, but Council will have 10 years' worth of management to deal with the projects. There may be State funding or grant opportunities in the future. We can't plan for those things, but we can't just say $180,000 just to get us there. Councilmember Monson said we can't control future Councils. If we don't start putting money in the PIR Fund now, then the levy for the PIR Fund will be significantly higher. We will likely take another hit on levy. If we shift the projects and split them, as has been discussed, we will take another hit on cost because everything gets more expensive. We can bond. That also costs money. Knowing what we know, if we don't fund the PIR, we are setting ourselves up for a bigger levy hit down the road. She supports the $180,000. Councilmember Holden said when we talk about PIR and the road project for next year, it's in the budget as $3.3 million. When talking about the PIR in the future, we're talking about the full cost of the project. She asked if assessments lower the PIR. Finance Director Yang said it does. That is included in the fund balance projections. We have generally seen a 40% collection rate. That is included. The remaining 60% comes annually, based