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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 27,2012 Page 11 **Mr. Miller advised that additional staffing costs for the City's Information Technology (IT) and License Center would be covered by fees for member cit- ies for IT under Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) language; and staffing for the License Center would be absorbed by additional revenue from that enterprise. Mr. Miller advised that staffing at the License Center had been reduced, with a vacant position left since 2008 when economic conditions impacted everyone. Mr. Miller reiterated that these additional staffing needs would create no in- creased cost to residents; and that the increased volume at the License Center would be more than sufficient to pay for filling that position; and as noted, no additional taxpayer costs for the IT position either. Mr. Miller advised that the 2% proposed COLA was on track with peer com- munities as they settled contracts; and should be sufficient to keep the City within the marketplace and retain its employee base. Mr. Miller further noted that an increase of 5%in healthcare was anticipated. At the request of Mayor Roe regarding Budget Impacts related to the 20-year CIP funding gap and information displayed, Mr. Miller clarified that the $43 million funding gap is what remains after last year's increased funding; since that original gap was closer to $100 million. At the request of Mayor Roe regarding the New Obligations or Planned Activi- ties, Mr. Miller clarified that those were not anticipated when the two-year budget was developed in 2011. At the request of Councilmember McGehee regarding the amount of new im- pacts not previously identified or specifically budgeted for, as noted above and on page 2 of the RCA, Mr. Miller clarified that they were identified on page 2 of the RCA, in the amount of$201,720, less $20,000 needed for on-going costs to be funded by additional tax levy in 2013, for a net difference of$181,720. Continuing with his presentation, Mr. Miller summarized the 2013 budget pro- posed at $43.7 million; with $20.0 million in tax-supported funds; and repre- senting a spending increase in the tax-supported fund of$613,591 or 3.2%; and a Preliminary Tax Levy at $17,169,935, an increase of $2,297,641 or 14.8%, and currently excluding the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) Levy. At the request of Councilmember Willmus regarding debt service allocation for the Park Renewal Program and new Fire Station, Mr. Miller advised that the to- tal financing package was for $27 million, with the first $20 million ($8 million for the Fire Station; $19 million for the Park Renewal Program) in place, with $560,000 debt service coming on line the first year, in 2014.