CCP 10-10-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - SEPTEMBER 11,2006 9 Councilmember Holden stated she had a concem regarding the 6% levy and she would not support it. Shc noted the City was expecting significant funds to come in the next year. Councilmember Grant stated he also would not support a 6% lcvy and staff came to them with a 4% initially. He stated the morc extras thcy tacked on, thosc extras would cvcntually get spent. Councilmembcr Larson stated he did support thc motion and notcd the City has been very conservative in the way it approached levies eompared to other Cities. He noted a lot of things the City wantcd to do they could not do because they did not have sufficient funds. He stated it was not irresponsible in talking about a six percent versus a four perccnt increase. Councilmember Pellegrin asked if they were making money on the embezzlement. Mr. Johnson responded it was his understanding thcy wcre only getting a portion of the moncy back and not the total sum and they were not making money on this. Councilmember Larson noted the money they recovered from the embezzlement was not a windfall for the City and it was money that was originally stolen from the City in the first place. Mayor Aplikowski stated she would support thc 6% levy and she did not think it was irresponsible to give staff more time. She noted they could be looking at a 4% levy in December, but she wantcd to give staff some latitude. Councilmember Holden stated she did not believe they had agreed on the capital improvement projects they wanted to do. She noted they have not been maintaining the road, parks, trails, and teunis courts. She stated this was inappropriate and she would not support it. Councilmcmber Grant stated if the utility rates were too low, then they needed to raise the utility ratcs. He stated the utility funds were too low because they were spending too much. He noted they needed to be more fiscally responsible and they should be taxing for what they need. He stated staff had come to them with a four percent budget and he did not believe they should raise it to six percent. Mayor Aplikowski stated staff had indicated they would try to keep the levy at four percent. Conncilmember Pellegrin stated he was also not sure he was in favor of the 6% levy. Hc noted they had to get out of the pay me later mode. The motion carried unanimously (3-2 Councilmembers Grant and Holden opposed). Councilmember Pellegrin left the meeting at 9:24 p.m. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to adopt Resolution 06-44 which establishes the preliminary levy for thc Karth Lake Improvemcnt District for taxes payable 2007 in the amount of $13,782.67. The motion carried unanimously (4-0 Councilmember Pellegrin absent for the vote).