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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, December 2, 2013 Page 7 2014 budget did not address that status quo in any major way, other than the re- quest of the School District to increase funding for senior programs from $6,000 to $10,000. However, Mr. Trudgeon noted that he was currently working with several focus groups in addressing this situation and attempting to put together a coalition to consider individual and cooperative responses. Mr. Trudgeon antici- pated that this would evolve in 2014 creating a step forward in addressing senior needs and attempt to identify a variety of funding sources. Mr. Trudgeon antici- pated policy discussions by the City Council during 2014 reflecting that evolu- tion. Zero-Based Budgeting Finance Director Miller advised that the City did not use zero-based budgeting. However, the concept was interwoven in the process each year as the City Coun- cil and discussed and informed staff on any adjusted services and programs and priorities accordingly, as staff developed the City Manager-recommended Budget to the City Council, and whether to maintain, increase or reduce those services, service levels and programs. Sales Tax Assumption Mr. Miller advised that savings the City would realize in 2014 from the State's re- instatement of the sales tax exemption for municipalities had been applied to for- go the need for additional budget dollars. Mayor Roe concurred, noting for property tax information, levy expenditures would have been more if not for those savings. Median Value Home Assumption Mr. Miller advised that the current median value home according to Ramsey County property records was at $185,000, considerably less than five years ago when it had reached a high of $234,000 to $235,000. While this value has re- bounded some in the last year, approximately 3% and starting to move forward, Mr. Miller noted that it had not come back to those levels yet. Mr. Miller clarified that the City considered a typical, single-family home in Ro- seville's water usage at 15,000 to 18,000 gallons per quarter. Mr. Miller further clarified that based on the tax-supported portion of the budget, those median home values were valued by Ramsey County, and while individual home values may increase or decrease, these figures were based on the aggregate. Mr. Miller noted that inflation-adjusted properties over the last two years had showing that Roseville was behind that average. Automatic COLA for City Employees Mr. Miller advised that COLA for employees was not an automatic assumption, but in all fairness, there was usually an adjustment made based on the Consumer price Index, with some instances of no increase, but not occurring often.