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Special City Council Meeting <br /> Thursday, May 22, 2014 <br /> Page 25 <br /> ommerided budget. Councilmember Willmus opined that this was of significant <br /> benefit for the community to see the ramifications of various steps; and would <br /> provide a more accurate picture of potential changes and how they would impact <br /> community members, which was an important exercise to do from time to time. <br /> Councilmember Laliberte agreed that, as an exercise, it could illuminate discus- <br /> sions and how services could be affected, and reflect on the City Manager's budg- <br /> et recommendations. Councilmember Laliberte opined that she saw the exercise <br /> as a preliminary to the City Manager-recommended budget presentation. <br /> At the request of Mayor Roe, and by Council consensus, the request was defined <br /> as a one-page summary similar to those received tonight, with each department <br /> outlining the impacts to their individual departments as a "big picture" summary, <br /> not in spreadsheet format. <br /> Councilmember McGehee spoke in opposition to the motion, opining that it was <br /> an unnecessary exercise and that staff was very responsible, honest and straight- <br /> forward in preparing their various requests. Councilmember McGehee opined <br /> that Roseville citizens had also been straightforward in their survey responses <br /> about not wanting reduced services, but having some control in their taxes. <br /> Councilmember McGehee further opined that her personal perspective was that <br /> there was a significant disparity in survey data and what is important to residents <br /> in comparison to City Council-supported priorities. Councilmember McGehee <br /> opined that it was the City Council's obligation to look at that survey information <br /> first to determine if the City had been providing those priorities; and based on her <br /> overall read and view, the City Council was not addressing those repeating <br /> themes related to public safety, infrastructure and parks & recreation priorities. <br /> Beyond the major effort to provide the fire station as part of firefighter and EMT <br /> needs, substantial support of the Police Department, and the large amount spent <br /> on the parks and recreation portion, Councilmember McGehee suggested a need <br /> to discuss reserves as a way to reduce the budget and levies rather than waste <br /> staff time and efforts on an exercise. Councilmember McGehee opined that there <br /> were a lot of ways to provide services in more opaque ways, such as hidden taxes <br /> through increased fees. With the Finance Commission seeking additional infor- <br /> mation as well, and providing input on the budget process, Councilmember <br /> McGehee questioned the purpose of asking staff to perform in an exercise that <br /> wouldn't result in much new information. <br /> Before action on the motion, Councilmember Etten advised that he found it an in- <br /> teresting concept based on the merits of such an activity from the Finance Com- <br /> mission and their perspective, which may prove helpful and may or may not make <br /> sense in the end. Councilmember Etten suggested that this be charged to the Fi- <br /> nance Commission for their discussion and recommendation to the City Council. <br /> Regarding the idea of levy-supported dollars, Councilmember Etten opined that <br /> any discussion needed to be fair to all departments and include all costs—whether <br />