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Special City Council Meeting Monday,June 1,2015 Page 12 Mr. Bilotta noted the department's aggressive use of grant funding to address ad- ditional operational costs, as well as continually reviewing different delivery methods. Mr. Bilotta advised that staff was currently, with the assistance of their Financial Consultant Springsted, performing a deep review of all tax increment financing districts (TIF) within the City to determine ways to utilize that funding or take them off line to bring properties back into play for the tax base. Mr. Bilotta advised that planning fees held at their current level as directed by the City Council did not necessarily cover costs, and with staff involved in more steps required in the review process, the money needed to be found elsewhere (e.g. Conditional Uses, Vogel Sheetmetal, etc.). While not requested an increase in those fees, Mr. Bilotta noted the need to balance staff's time accordingly. While the department is extremely efficiency-oriented in its operations, Mr. Bilot- ta noted that it also remained citizen-focused, particularly involving initiatives in- volved in strategic planning efforts. While not proposing much difference in 2016 from the 2015 budget, Mr. Bilotta noted as additional community engagement and neighborhood association efforts increase, there would be impacts at current staffing levels. In comparison, if addi- tional redevelopment occurs (e.g. Har Mar Mall area), Mr. Bilotta advised that St. Louis Park had twenty-four employees compared to Roseville's thirteen employ- ees in the Community Development Department, and asked that the City Council be cognizant of that limited staff resource going forward. Councilmember Willmus requested additional information from Mr. Bilotta on comparisons of permit revenue or dollar projects generated annually for the Cities of Roseville and St. Louis Park. As to succession planning challenges, Mr. Bilotta noted potential retirements in the code enforcement department within the next five years and the need to ad- dress that transition to maintain an effective team, opining that they drove the ef- ficiencies of the entire department. Mr. Bilotta opined that he wanted to duplicate the successful transition efforts performed most recently by the Public Works De- partment. Noting the age and limitations of the current permit software, Mr. Bilotta cau- tioned the City Council on the increasing potential for a catastrophic failure of that system. Mr. Bilotta noted that it was an old, locally-produced product, and support for the system continued to deteriorate; as well as not allowing historic data comparisons, especially with recent Microsoft software upgrades, creasing considerable delays in obtaining information for applicants. Mr. Bilotta noted that replacing this software would be a significant cost, even though it would be a great advance with a more compatible product. Mr. Bilotta advised that it was