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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,July 22,2013 Page 24 If this is the consensus of the body, Councilmember Etten suggested going back to Department Heads, and if the items they brought forward were important prior- ities, finding out their recommended resolutions. Councilmember Etten noted that unrestricted reserve funds for the License Center were at 56% of its budget, when the target was 20%, opining that it represented a lot of reserve funding, almost tri- ple the target percentage. Councilmember Etten suggested that this may be how the General Fund and operating budget was improved to accomplish key results for the City's employees. Councilmember McGehee suggested using the LGA funding for the 4.6% Com- pensation Study recommendations and/or COLA;however, she expressed concern in not addressing long-term CIP sustainability; and questioned if the additional space available when the Fire Department moved into the new facility could ac- commodate moving the License Center onto the City Hall campus, obviously re- quiring some remodeling that would be part of capital funding. At the request of Mayor Roe, Mr. Miller advised that with the exception of the Sergeants Union and pending negotiations with other unions having a 2% COLA increase written for 2014; that to maintain parity and equity for all City employ- ees,he would recommend a 2% COLA across the board. Related to the Compen- sation Study and if the City Council went forward with the recommended increase of 4.6%, Mayor Roe sought clarification of rationale in proceeding with a 2% COLA as well. Mr. Miller responded that the Compensation Study was based on 2012 comparisons, and to get and retain the average at 4.6%, it would still need a 2% COLA to maintain that ranking with peer cities, noting that peer cities would probably do a 2% COLA as well, which would then cause the City to revert back to 98% of the peer city average rather than the recommended 100%. Regarding rationale for using 2012 numbers for the Compensation Study, Interim City Man- ager Trudgeon clarified that this was when the study was done. Councilmember Willmus noted the one thing factoring into the decision was the rate at which the Compensation Study may be implemented; and when that policy discussion was held, all of the above-referenced items needed to be factored in if the City wished to implement it at 100% average of peer cities. Councilmember Willmus advised that this was his rationale in recommending a range, if all things were factored in, and the need to understand the full implication of the recom- mended 100%. Mayor Roe opined that the range didn't serve to accomplish the goal. Mayor Roe requested, and Mr. Miller confirmed that employees had received a 2% COLA from 2012 to 2013; with Mayor Roe further opining that this didn't put the situa- tion as far behind as he had originally understood in his initial comments. However, Councilmember Laliberte opined that this also meant that it would not be prudent for the City to increase the compensation at 2.6%versus 4.6%.