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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,July 14, 2014 <br /> Page 25 <br /> across the board, and not specific to one non-union employee group; and that <br /> roughly half of the City's employees are in collective bargaining units on the tax- <br /> supported side. <br /> Councilmember Willmus questioned if the City was to forego COLA adjustments <br /> for that group of employees and defer implementing an additional number of FTE <br /> for 2015, could staff realistically be able to get down to the levy in line with infla- <br /> tion as referenced in Attachment F. Councilmember Willmus opined that, on <br /> January 1, 2013, that group received a 2% COLA, in October of 2013 another <br /> 3.6%, then in January of 2014,received another 2%. In responding to people who <br /> wondered why he kept coming back to that group, Councilmember Willmus ex- <br /> plained that his rationale was to defer any increased for FTE and COLA in 2015 <br /> to realistically get to a levy scenario in par with the rate of inflation. <br /> Finance Director Miller responded that only $69,000 would come from the levy <br /> for the new positions; with the remainder funded from other sources. If the City <br /> didn't fill any positions at all, Mr. Miller clarified that it would save an approxi- <br /> mate projected $126,000 plus the $69,000, or generate a projected levy savings of <br /> approximately$200,000, or a levy increase of 3.8%. <br /> At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Mr. Miller clarified that the savings <br /> realized from reduced debt service and Fire Relief Fund contributions were being <br /> proposed to be repurposed for the street reconstruction program and facility re- <br /> placement. Mr. Miller noted that in 2014, the Capital Improvement Program <br /> (CIP) was not fully funded, but was actually $50,000 short, and staff would rec- <br /> ommend that $160,000 be allocated to streets with the remainder toward facilities. <br /> Based on the CIP funding plan enacted by the City Council and projected in 2012, <br /> it called for additional funding in 2014, with some anticipated from State Aid, but <br /> not all, resulting in the reduction by$50,000 from that original plan. <br /> Knowing the projected CIP plan was for the long-term, Councilmember Miller <br /> questioned if this budget adequately took that into consideration in projecting CIP <br /> goals for buildings and streets. Councilmember McGehee stated that she wanted <br /> to make sure that the CIP was on track or ahead of those figures to make provi- <br /> sion for the $50,000 shortage in 2014. <br /> Mr. Miller advised that he was not sure of the operational or service levels for the <br /> CIP, but based on what was available now and what needed to be raised to meet <br /> replacement scheduled, the 2015 budget as proposed would get closer back on <br /> track that the CIP was several years ago. <br /> As part of the CIP Task Force recommendations made several years ago, Mayor <br /> Roe noted that there was an annual set aside to fund the CIP, and a related annual <br /> review of projected costs. Based on his analysis, Mayor Roe opined that it ap- <br /> peared that even with the loss of$225,000 in state aid due to their revised formu- <br />