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Special City Council Meeting Thursday,July 18,2013 Page 10 As previously referenced by Fire Chief O'Neill, Chief Mathwig advised that he had also prepared different budget priorities prior to the levy limits enacted by the legislature, but realized they were no longer realistic, with other issues also before the City Council. Chief Mathwig simply asked that the department no go backwards, and therefore sought three (3) 2014 budget priorities, as detailed in the bench handout: 1) Im- plementation of the recently completed Compensation Study; 2) Funding for in- flationary and contractual impacts to the current budget; and 3) retain the Police Department and its operating budget status quo. Chief Mathwig sincerely re- quested that the City Council make the implementation of the compensation study their highest priority; noting that the department had forty-four (44) employees with their own frequent compensation study; with one (1) union for Sergeants and one (1) for sworn officers. Chief Mathwig noted that through frequent compari- sons with other cities,negations continued to remain on an average with unions. Chief Mathwig noted that the increase in dispatch services for Fire and Police services with Ramsey County was a significant impact to the budget, with the ma- jority falling into the Police budget, even though covering both Fire and Police dispatch services. Chief Mathwig reviewed the adjustment mechanism scheduled to be reversed in 2015 by Ramsey County Dispatch (with the exception of the City of White Bear Lake having their own dispatch function) to adjust funding previously borne significantly by the City of St. Paul; and incorporating an entire- ly new CAD system for the entire county which the County Board would fund on County taxes, with operating and future planning costs to be borne by member cit- ies. While Chief Mathwig reviewed the status quo budget proposed for 2014, he also provided a preview of 2015 budget priorities as detailed on page 3 of the bench handout. In highlighting the anticipated increase in associated crime with more mass transit into Roseville and its retail areas, Chief Mathwig clarified that the department was attempting to anticipate additional service requirements, even above traffic and crash activities. Councilmember Laliberte, as the City Council representative to the bus rapid transit (BRT) planning committee, noted her proposal to the committee that, since they move all other college students along Snelling Avenue to their college desti- nation (e.g. Northwestern and Bethel) rather than ending the BRT route at Rosedale. However, Councilmember Laliberte advised that she was not hopeful that this would happen; noting that Metro Transit was also renegotiating their lease at Rosedale.