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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 11, 2014 Page 11 ability to pay, which could be reduced through the current fund reserve levels. Mr. Grefenberg opined that this annual levy increase needed to stop, as it was not sustainable, and suggested that more pencils needed to be sharpened and the pro- posed tax levy increase reduced. With no one else appearing to speak, Mayor Roe closed the public hearing at ap- proximately 7:10 p.m. Mayor Roe thanked those coming forward to speak; and advised that their ques- tions and comments would be addressed at future meetings, and reiterated the up- coming budget schedule, and additional opportunities for public comment and feedback. At the request of Councilmember Willmus, City Manager Trudgeon anticipated the goal of the newly-formed Finance Commission, next meeting on August 21, 2014, was to provide their feedback on reserves, revenues and future budgets. At the request of Mayor Roe, Finance Director Chris Miller advised that the Fi- nance Commission had been discussing those topics, and would continue to do so, and in response to their direction from the City Council and interest of the body in receiving their recommendations when they were comfortable in doing so. Mayor Roe noted that those meetings, including the August 21, 2014 session, were also open to the public as well, and were held at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. In response to public comment, Councilmember McGehee sought to clarify some of the comments related to trust and transparency. While personally agreeing • with the accuracy of the recent Parks Renewal Program and Fire Station bond is- sue, without a voter referendum, Councilmember McGehee noted that she had been in the minority on not supporting that issue for those very concerns, and not- ed that that represented in excess of 24% increase alone; and that had been open- ly and frequently discussed. Since 2004, Councilmember McGehee recognized that the average increase of 2% annually over that time excluding bonded indebt- edness, has been reasonably transparent and straightforward. When promising to return money to taxpayers, Councilmember McGehee opined that the City Coun- cil should be straightforward about its intent and what they were attempting to rectify by repurposing those bond allotments. While the money could be returned to taxpayers, Councilmember McGehee noted that it would only mean increasing the levy by a comparable amount, and she personally found this proposal and real- location straightforward based on standard bookkeeping practices. In addressing comments about increased levies over the last ten years, Coun- cilmember McGehee clarified that the reason in doing so was to rectify a long pe- riod of time where the City's infrastructure had not been funded, deferring