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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 25, 2014 Page 24 Without objection, Mayor Roe asked staff to bring the Finance Commission rec- ommendation forward for a formal policy amendment in the future. Based on ongoing e-mails between staff and Councilmembers during the budget process, and for the purposes of a sample budget expenditure and tax levy revenue reconciliation, Mayor Roe provided, as a bench handout attached hereto and made a part hereof, a one-page sample that could be used to track changes and make amendments accordingly, all within that one document. Mayor Roe suggested this could be used as a potential document going forward, and sought individual Council feedback on the usefulness of such a resource. Mayor Roe noted the footnotes at the bottom of the document that provided additional clarification of the numbers involved. Councilmember Willmus spoke in support of the sample document, opining that it was helpful for him, and provided similar information in a format used by the HRA for their actual and projected budget and levy comparisons. Councilmember Etten expressed appreciation for the document; however, as not- ed by Finance Director Miller during the budget process, he expressed his prefer- ence for tracking the bigger picture of why dollars were shifting, but noted this did provide the middle range from grids and trying to track the same information from multiple pages of documents. Councilmember Etten suggested this may break down trends and allow easier following of the money in a more transparent way. Councilmember Etten expressed his preference to have the budget and levy contained in one document; but was concerned with the category proposing an ongoing option for using reserves for property tax relief. Councilmember Etten stated that he didn't want the City Council's policy to provide use of reserves on a regular basis to balance the budget; and expressed his concern if it was made a permanent piece of budget documents, it may do so. Otherwise, Councilmember Etten found merit in this blend of information. Councilmember McGehee concurred with Councilmember Etten's remarks on the use of reserves, but otherwise expressed her interest in this type of document. By way of formatting, Councilmember McGehee noted the easier reading of the HRA document with footnotes listed at the side of each line item versus at the bottom and suggested formatting be adjusted accordingly. Specific to the use of reserves as noted, Mayor Roe clarified that it addressed only the last year's reserve levels when below or at target, and hopefully then the Fi- nance Commission's recommendation would then be reflected accordingly unless a policy change was made at that time. Mayor Roe advised that was his rationale for including that particular reference note.