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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 11, 2014 Page 8 dated August 11, 2014, Mr. Trudgeon noted that the proposed budget calls for a tax levy increase of$890,829 or a 4.9% increase over 2014. Of that increase, Mr. Trudgeon noted that approximately one half was to reinstate funding that had been taken from the reserves in 2014 and no use of those reserves proposed for 2015. Mr. Trudgeon advised that the remainder of the increase was basically in- flationary costs. Mayor Roe noted in the RCA that the average tax impact for a typical single- family home in Roseville would be $7.56. Mayor Roe noted, and City Manager Trudgeon confirmed, that about half of that increase was due to the fact that resi- dential property values had increased more than commercial properties in the most recent Ramsey County valuations, and, as a result of that shift of tax burden from commercial properties to residential, residential properties' taxes would go up even with no change to the city's tax levy. Mayor Roe noted that historically from year to year the shift in burden between commercial and residential can go either direction, but that for 2015 it will add to residential tax bills. Councilmember McGehee noted that the commercial tax base was currently at 45%of total tax receipts compared to 55%in past years. At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Councilmember Etten advised that the Housing & Redevelopment Authority (HRA) budget was initially addressed at their July meeting, with more specific discussions of the HRA Finance Subcom- mittee held earlier today and outlined specifically by Executive Director Kelsey; with more refined numbers available at the upcoming August HRA meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, August 19, 2014. Mayor Roe reviewed the budget process going forward, with the Preliminary Levy scheduled for adoption by the City Council at their September 8, 2014 regu- lar meeting; allowing for additional discussions between now and then. Mayor Roe noted further refinement would also occur between setting the Preliminary Budget in September and Final Budget in December; and encouraged the public to pay close attention to those discussions. After reviewing the protocol for public hearings, Mayor Roe opened the public hearing at approximately 6:48 p.m. for the purpose of hearing public testimony on the 2015 City Levy. Public Comments John Kysylyczyn,3083 Victoria Street Mr. Kysylyczyn took issue in staffs comparison in the RCA of City services and other utilities and services paid for by homeowners (e.g. gas, electric, cable televi- sion, broadband internet, or mobile phone service); and took offense with Finance Department staff injecting their personal opinions into and editorializing a finance document, when most of them didn't even live in Roseville.