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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,December 2,2013 <br /> Page 6 <br /> Gary Grefenberg, 91 Mid Oaks Lane <br /> Having arrived later in the meeting, Mr. Grefenberg questioned if Mr. Miller had <br /> specifically gone into information provided in the Request for Council Action <br /> (RCA) on the tax budget as part of his presentation. <br /> Mayor Roe responded that any information referenced was included in the power <br /> point presentation, including the utility rate chart; but not necessarily outlined in <br /> detail for the pluses and minuses at this point in the presentation, as that more de- <br /> tailed information and discussion would occur later in the agenda. <br /> Mr. Grefenberg advised that he had provided his questions to Mr. Miller earlier <br /> today. <br /> 1) Mr. Grefenberg expressed appreciation for the meeting documents provided <br /> by Mr. Miller, and referenced the quick budget snapshot (page 2 of the RCA); <br /> and questioned if the median home value had changed over the last five years, <br /> or remained the same; and what the assumption was for defining a median <br /> valued home. <br /> 2) Mr. Grefenberg noted that there were eight peer cities used for comparison for <br /> water rates; however there were sixty-two peer cities referenced for compari- <br /> son for tax levy information; and requested who those cities were. <br /> Mayor Roe noted that he wasn't sure if that information could be provided at <br /> this point, and Mr. Grefenberg asked that it provided at a later time then, as <br /> the only comparison information on cities he had was provided by Ramsey <br /> County, and included more than that number of cities. <br /> 3) Of the $20,000 in salary adjustments, or six employees, Mr. Grefenberg <br /> sought information on who those selected employees had been to receive <br /> market rate salary adjustments. Mr. Grefenberg opined that the public needed <br /> transparency, and he was willing to receive the information privately or publi- <br /> cally at the City's discretion. <br /> 4) On page 5 of the staff recommendation, Mr. Grefenberg opined that $317,000 <br /> in General Fund cash reserves was listed, which was less than the originally <br /> projected $430,000; and questioned if there was anything illegal by the City <br /> Council lowering the proposed levy increase through use of those funds to <br /> support the tax-supported portion of the budget. <br /> 5) Mr. Grefenberg questioned if action on the hiring of a Volunteer Coordinator <br /> position was planned tonight, with Mayor Roe responded that it would be dis- <br /> cussed later on tonight's agenda as part of budget discussions. <br /> Staff Response <br /> Strategic Plan and Senior Demographic <br /> Interim City Manager Trudgeon noted that the Strategic Plan did consider chang- <br /> ing demographics in the City's senior population, even thought current proposed <br />