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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, April 15, 2013 Page 15 or seek investment of new money for a specific department or purpose, with each ranking different, he would have a hard time determining how that new priority affected the entire process; or if it required a new staff person, or whether those responsibilities were broken out over different areas. Mayor Roe noted that this would become evident through recommended staff re- allocations. City Manager Malinen responded that this approach brought staff a knowledge of Council priorities for where to allocate resources, and those things the City Coun- cil deemed they wanted the City to excel at, and were most important, as well as those ranks that may not be as important or considered expendable. Mr. Malinen referenced the "yellow line" concept for that ranking, and while perhaps seen as harsh, in reality the exercise had not panned out that way, but did allow both staff and the City Council to look at line items to determine desirable versus essential or critical. Mr. Malinen advised that the overall concept allows Department Heads to adjust and reallocate resources when they understand priorities across the board. At the request of Mayor Roe, City Manager Malinen confirmed that this had been staffs experience over the last few years; and as staff had delved in deeper into operational aspects of the organization, their recommendations back to the City Council relative to City Council rankings have dictated those recommendations within the overall budget process. As an example, Councilmember Etten addressed the Council Composite Priority ranking 2.2 for the Recycling Program Administration Service Charge (Item 20 — Administration Department Programs) and questioned how that impacted opera- tions from management on down; and whether that hypothetically indicated a cut in the City Manager's salary by ranking that line lower. At the request of Mayor Roe, City Manager Malinen reviewed that line item as an example of the process as an internal charge having other aspects of the overall Enterprise Fund having Ramsey County and other financial support. Mr. Malinen noted that it would be difficult to eliminate or reduce that program based on its overall function for the community. Mayor Roe noted that, based on that rationale, staff did not put that item below the "yellow line" but something close to that low ranking may be reduced. Specific to Line 20, Councilmember Willmus suggested that it could be eliminat- ed as had been done successfully by other communities. At the request of Mayor Roe, Councilmember Willmus clarified that he didn't mean elimination of the Recycling Program, but operating it without a Recycling