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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,November 10, 2014 Page 15 Mr. Miller responded that the preliminary levy increase for 2015 had been set by the City Council in September at 3.64% over 2014; and if lowered by $160,000, would result in the levy dropping to $2.75%. To be more specific, Mayor Roe noted that debt coming off line in coming years included skating center certificates of $335,000 targeted toward facility replace- ment in the near term and treated as costs at the skating center. Mayor Roe fur- ther noted that the Public Works/City Hall bonds were scheduled to come off in 2020, with other funds targeted toward the Park bond and another reduction from the Pavement Management Plan. Mayor Roe noted that the specific survey result mentioned by Councilmember Willmus was that residents generally did not want to pay more for the same level of services, but that the question was not asked what programs or services residents might prefer to change as a result. Mayor Roe stated that he wanted to make sure that nuance continued as part of the budget discussion. At the request of Councilmember Etten, Finance Director Miller confirmed that the local government aid (LGA) funding received by the City in 2014 and used for the CIP funding fund would not be forthcoming in 2015. Councilmember Etten stated that he found that lack of LGA scary, referencing Mr. Miller's notes on pages 8 and 9 of Attachment C and funding recommenda- tion#2 of 4,he interpreted that as a pressing need in the near-term. Councilmem- ber Etten asked staff for their recommendations to shore up those funds now. For 2015, recognizing that the City Council expressed a strong desire to hit the target levy increase of 3.5% overall and their subsequent strong sentiment to see it further reduced, Finance Director Miller advised that additional funding options were limited. However, Mr. Miller noted that this left an even larger gap in 2016 that needed addressing, depending on the City Council's comfort level and their desire to begin addressing future considerations for tax levy increases as well as addressing other inflationary operating levels. Mr. Miller noted that one aspect for addressing that gap is a broader discussion of service levels. Discussion ensued regarding facilities, park improvement program funding, and consideration of bonding to fill that future funding gap. In her discussions earlier today with Finance Director Miller, Councilmember McGehee suggested discussions at next week's City Council Worksession on ad- justments in the base fees for water and sewer, which she found to be very signifi- cant base rates at this time. Councilmember McGehee offered to provide Coun- cilmembers with her ideas on how those base fees may impact single-family homeowners. Councilmember McGehee further noted the lack of discussion to- date on increasing fees for services other than the periodic adjustments for the leaf