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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, May 12, 2014 Page 10 Councilmember McGehee asked that the Finance Commission research other communities that bonded for similar funds and the benefits or negatives in both options. Councilmember McGehee stated that she continued to hear from resi- dents about their significant changes in utility bills, and coupled with increases from Xcel Energy, the City of Roseville's utility fees were now significantly higher when compared to other communities. Councilmember Etten reiterated Councilmember McGehee's comments regarding taking money from funds designated for the CIP; noting the presentation of the AAA rating received earlier tonight, as a result of the City performing long-term strategic planning for CIP needs. If LGA funding is lost, Councilmember Etten questioned if and how the Pavement Management Program (PMP) would be funded long-term, not short-term throughout this process. Mayor Roe noted highlighted several items and his comments related to staff's projected impacts: 1) Immediate issue in the PMP Fund and the need for caution as street bonds were paid off, with the CIP recommendations that those levy revenues be ap- plied to improve PMP funding, with that fund balance projected over the next six years to decrease from $12 million to $5 million. 2) If the $225,000 LGA was lost, which had been intended to be an annual con- tribution toward future CIP needs, and the actual CIP recommendation actual- ly $75,000 to meet projected needs, which were held off last year and intend- ed to be added with another $55,000 for 2014, it could increase the projected impact from $623,000 to over $1 million, increasing impacts to the average taxpayer from less than 6% to 13%. Based on that potential impact, and with the possibility of decertifying some TIF Districts depending on the recom- mendations of the State Auditor as to whether to decertify or reactivate them, Mayor Roe advised that he had asked staff to look at whether it may be pru- dent to consider having the $400,000 balance of one of those Districts come back to the City, and to review with Ramsey County the timing of that decerti- fication that made the most sense. While this would not provide an ongoing method to solve the sustainability problem, Mayor Roe advised that it could reduce the average impact on residential taxpayers, since the commercial tax base would not change much at all form 2013 to 2014 for 2015 taxes. Mayor Roe cautioned that since all of the property tax transfer burden would be borne by residential properties, not commercial property owners, the City needed to be mindful of that in the overall budget context. 3) Mayor Roe stated that he was personally interested in a policy going forward for how the City used its reserves, noting that at one time at one time there was a separate Property Tax Relief Fund, which had since been rolled into the General Fund; with a determination made as to how they relate to desired lev- els or if any funds were over the desired levels, and then apply those reserves to property tax relieve if and when it was appropriate to do so.