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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, September 24, 2012 Page 16 At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Mr. Miller clarified that if the $17 million bond issue action did not proceed, the proposed 2013 levy increase would be approximately 5.6%based on current assumptions. Councilmember McGehee sought to clarify that the HRA Levy had to be in- cluded in the total, since it affected everyone; and while a total HRA Levy of 2.3% increase exclusive of the water fee increase was not great, it was better than the proposed 17.6% increase with the additional bond sale. Mayor Roe clarified that, in adding the percent increase on the HRA levy to the property tax levy, there were relative dollar impacts to consider. Councilmember McGehee clarified that she was using dollar amounts based on that principle; but was trying to be clear for the listening audience. • Mayor Roe apologized to the public for any confusion caused from the many numbers floating around, recognizing that it was hard to keep up with them. On that point, Councilmember Pust admitted she was also unable to follow most of the previous discussion; and recognized this was probably similar to that ex- perienced by the audience and media in the room. For the record, Councilmem- ber Pust referenced and read for the record, an e-mail provided earlier today from Finance Director Miller to the City Council in response to questions of Councilmember McGehee and breaking down the bond issue variables. At the request of Mayor Roe, a copy of this e-mail dated September 24, 2012, was provided to the public. Mayor Roe thanked Councilmember Pust. Finance Director Miller recognized that the many different numbers were diffi- cult to follow, and having anticipated that, when the City Council adopted their Preliminary 2013 Budget on September 10, 2012, staff had laid all of those numbers out. Mr. Miller noted that breakdowns had also been provided as early as October of 2011 for all phases of the bond issue when the City Council had first considered the first phase; along with having been publicized in the local newspaper. Mr. Miller opined that staff had done their best to get the infor- mation to the public; and hoped that this additional e-mail information served as a complimentary piece to keep the City's budget as public and transparent as possible. At the request of Mayor Roe regarding clarifying General Obligation bonds, Mr. Miller advised that they were not issued under the State capital improvement Statute.