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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,November 25, 2013 <br /> Page 17 <br /> reviewed the origination of this program, put in place since at least 1970, as de- <br /> tailed in the staff report. <br /> Since the PWETC meeting, Councilmember Willmus questioned whether Mr. <br /> Miller had an opportunity to explore how to phase out the Senior Discount Pro- <br /> gram; and how to initiate an income-qualified or means-tested program. <br /> Mr. Miller advised, that while more time was needed to fully research it, solely <br /> addressing the means-testing, he saw no need to reinvent the wheel, and recom- <br /> mended seeking guidance from other aid programs (e.g. State or County), who al- <br /> ready had a good base of knowledge and methodology that could guide the City at <br /> the local level. Mr. Miller noted that how many homeowners would be affected <br /> would depend on the threshold applied by the City Council, whether sliding scales <br /> for adjusted gross income and number of people in a household, or whether simp- <br /> ly income verification; as well as whether it would be an honor system versus ver- <br /> ifiable results. Mr. Miller advised that the administrative burden for staff depend- <br /> ed on the City Council's directive; however, given current Roseville de- <br /> mographics, he anticipated that there would not be a significant number of single- <br /> family homeowners who would qualify. <br /> Based on the PWETC discussion he had observed, Councilmember Willmus <br /> opined that it would easier to implement a new program and phase out the old <br /> program and no longer enroll anyone in the Senior Discount Program until a <br /> means-tested program was in place. Councilmember Willmus questioned the via- <br /> bility of keeping enrollment open for the program while attempting to phase it <br /> out. <br /> In response, Mr. Miller cautioned that, as part of such a process, he would want to <br /> ensure that a fair amount of education and awareness was done for the public be- <br /> fore implementing any changes. Mr. Miller suggested that education could be <br /> done over the next 6-12 months. If the City was to decide on phasing out the cur- <br /> rent program, Mr. Miller estimated that if those currently receiving the discount <br /> were grandfathered in for the rest of their lives, it could realistically take 20-25 <br /> years before that last person left the discount program under that scenario; creat- <br /> ing a 25-year administrative burden to hold onto. If the City Council considered a <br /> 2-5 year phase out of the current program; Mr. Miller suggested they cap enroll- <br /> ment sooner rather than later. However, Mr. Miller personally would not suggest <br /> doing so by January 1, 2014; but suggested an end date (e.g. January 1, 2015) <br /> sooner rather than later to alert people that an end date was coming and allowing <br /> sufficient communication, education and awareness. <br /> As the only Councilmember who would qualify for the discount program, Coun- <br /> cilmember McGehee admitted that she would be embarrassed to do so; and while <br /> recognizing that many take advantage of the discount without any actually need, <br /> she supported the idea of capping things now. Councilmember McGehee spoke <br />