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<br />Regular City Council Meeting Minutes <br />Monday, April 23, 2007 <br />Page 34 <br /> <br />Capital Improvement Policy (CIP) <br />Finance Director Miller noted the speculative nature of the formal CIr <br />document and process, using the Twin Lakes development project <br />area and various scenarios as an example. <br /> <br />Councilmember Ihlan noted that this point was well taken, and opined <br />that she would like to see in appropriate places in the policy, including <br />a fiscal impact analysis on City expenditures, or proposed policy im- <br />plementations, moving toward a policy analysis for all development <br />projects (i.e., future maintenance of streets, traffic infrastructure im- <br />pacts, etc.). <br /> <br />Mayor Klausing opined that, while the Council had held this discus- <br />sion previously, it seemed incredibly speculative if only the costs <br />were factored into the equation without balancing in the benefits and <br />impacts to and for the overall city and surrounding areas. <br /> <br />Mr. Miller, from a personal and economic perspective, recognized the <br />advantages of performing fiscal impact analyses, but noted the need <br />for making numerous assumptions that influenced the value-added to <br />the City Council and their decision-making process as a body. Mr. <br />Miller used, as an example, how to determine the value of one job or <br />the value of increasing the tax base of the community; and opined <br />that, unless the entire body was in agreement on the assumptions and <br />their interpretation of those assumptions, the data would only benefit <br />individual decision-makers. Mr. Miller further opined that the bigger <br />a project, the more speculative the assumptions and actual fiscal <br />analysis would be. <br /> <br />Councilmember Ihlan reiterated her preference for receiving an analy- <br />sis detailing the cost of implementation for a new policy or a large- <br />sized development as part of the decision-making process, from a cost <br />standpoint at a minimum. <br /> <br />Mayor Klausing observed that each individual viewed ideas and is- <br />sues from different perspectives, and each opinion and perspective <br />was valid. <br />