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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,June 16, 2014 <br /> Page 11 <br /> staff was more able to make those determinations and bring them forward to the <br /> City Council, and suggested that they be given the opportunity to do so. <br /> Councilmember Willmus suggested that some discussion may be tied together, <br /> noting that his consideration for additional personnel or COLA would be deter- <br /> mined in part by responses from staff on previous discussions and his information <br /> requests for License Center revenue generated, and whether more of those reve- <br /> nues could be used to offset the General Fund levy beyond current practice, and <br /> as a broader discussion about reserves and the License Center. To get at the crux <br /> of his question, Councilmember Willmus questioned to what level those revenues <br /> could be used to offset the levy; and to hear guidance from staff as to what would <br /> be reasonable. <br /> Mr. Miller advised that in the 2104 budget, the General Fund tapped $110,000 to <br /> support other City programs/services, as that much was available to tap into. <br /> However, Mr. Miller advised that the way the facility was run and efficiencies of <br /> day-to-day operations were balanced with the fees allowed to be charged being set <br /> and mandated by federal and state oversight agencies, for which the City had no <br /> control. Mr. Miller noted that, while the fixed costs could go up or down, it was <br /> important to remain sensitive to the vulnerability of the License Center operation <br /> to those areas not within the City's control. Mr. Miller advised that, even though <br /> excess revenue generation had been tapped annually for General Fund needs, if <br /> the City Council chose to depend on those revenues, he could not ensure they <br /> would be sustainable in perpetuity. <br /> At the request of Mayor Roe, Mr. Miller advised that the City Council, at the end <br /> of budget deliberations in 2013 for the 2014 budget, raised transfers of revenue <br /> from the License Center to the General Fund Levy by an additional $75,000, with <br /> $35,000 in administrative services already charged into that budget. At the re- <br /> quest of Councilmember Willmus, Mr. Miller advised that the total in 2013, that <br /> total had been$85,000. <br /> Councilmember Willmus noted year-end reserves for the License Center in 2012 <br /> were approximately$800,000, and 2013 year-end were $925,000, showing signif- <br /> icant growth in those reserves. With the additional personnel brought in recently, <br /> Councilmember Willmus questioned if that didn't' indicate that the service of the <br /> License Center continued to grow fast. <br /> Mr. Miller opined that it wasn't growing as fast now as it had in the last few <br /> years. Mr. Miller advised that it had been intentional for the License Center busi- <br /> ness model to be managed differently over the last few years in order to amass <br /> funds to build a new facility or add onto an existing city-owned facility versus <br /> renting space as is currently done. Mr. Miller advised that he hadn't recently <br /> looked at a five-year business plan to see what could be sustained; and while the <br /> $800,000 held in reserves for that new location could be reallocated by the City <br />