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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 19,2013 Page 25 Councilmember McGehee noted that while the City's levy had experienced a sig- nificant increase over the last decade, increasing taxpayer burdens, and recogniz- ing that median income may be low, she further noted that not every senior citizen living in Roseville was living on a fixed income, and suggested that every senior citizen should not be painted as impoverished. Councilmember McGehee further noted that, over the last five years, a significant percentage of the increased levy was for debt service, with only 2% of those increases going annually going to- ward capital or operating costs. Councilmember Etten stated that, until additional information is provided by staff from peer cities, he did not want to proceed with this draft policy; and didn't want to vote using the draft as a base until that other information had been provided and reviewed. Councilmember Willmus concurred with Councilmember Etten's statements; opining that there was no need to vote on this right now, but rather preferred to use it as a guide for further discussion. With Mayor Roe clarifying intent of the motion to determine whether or not dis- cussions continued, Councilmember Willmus opined that there was no need to vote on that intent, that it was evident. Councilmember Laliberte stated that she would not be voting in support of this particular motion; but believed that the discussion should remain on the front burner with the eventual intent that a protocol or policy be provided. Coun- cilmember Laliberte suggested using this draft policy and written policies from other communities to model the City of Roseville's policy. For future reference, Councilmember Laliberte suggested that it would be prefer- able for staff to provide such comparable information from peer cities as well as those not in the peer group, with future RCA's providing a "good", "better," and "best" option for proposals like this. Mayor Roe advised that he was supportive of the motion to go forward based on input from other Councilmembers as to what is most appropriate. With whatever solution may come forward, Mayor Roe advised that he may still have a differing point of view of whether or not to COLA along with an implementation increase in the same year, but offered to hear all opinions. Mayor Roe opined that he rec- ognized that compensation needed to factor in taxpayer ability to pay applicable taxes; however, he expressed his interest in better understanding the relationship between salaries/wages and employees in various communities and median wages and income. Mayor Roe noted that he was not aware if that information was available for what Edina employees were paid compared to other communities, questioning if their employees were actually the highest paid or if there was a link between public employee salaries and what a community earns or what they want