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Finance Commission Minutes August 10, 2016 – Draft Minutes Page 7 of 8 271 Commissioner Harold stated he would not oppose an operation budget increase that tracked with 272 inflation. 273 274 Commissioner Hodder stated it is important to point out that it is not sustainable for the City to 275 rely on the use of reserve funds and the level of reserve funds available has decreased. 276 277 Commissioner Zeller asked what the operating portion of the increase would be. 278 279 Commissioner Harold stated about 78% of the increase is for operating costs and is an increase 280 of over 4% from last year. 281 282 Chair Schroeder stated she would recommend the budget increase at the same rate as inflation. 283 284 Commissioner Bachhuber pointed out the cost of labor is going up higher than the CPI and this 285 make it difficult for the budget to track at the same level as inflation without cutting employees 286 and/or hours. 287 288 Commissioner Zeller stated there is nothing in the budget that sticks out so it would be difficult 289 to make a recommendation. He would prefer to see reserves go into CIP funding because these 290 are long term needs versus just pulling a little out every year. 291 292 Commissioner Bachhuber stated he would support the City Manager’s proposed budget and levy. 293 294 Chair Schroeder stated she felt a levy increase of 5.5% was too high of an increase for the 295 residents. 296 297 298 Identify Discussion Items for the August 15, 2016 Joint Meeting with the City Council 299 300 Chair Schroeder recommended reviewing what the Commission has done and then reviewing 301 what the Commission would like City Council guidance on. The Commission has recommended 302 the Park Dedication Policy, the Golf and Oval review, the CIP funding scenarios. The 303 Commission looked at a City sales tax but tabled until they were given more direction from the 304 City Council. The Commission reviewed budgets by department and the City Manager’s 305 recommended budget. 306 307 Vice Chair Rohloff stated the Commission has toured some of the City’s facilities including the 308 Fire Department and Police Department. 309 310 Chair Schroeder recommended requesting guidance from the Council on what level of the budget 311 review the Commission should be involved in, if there was a process to review City programs, 312 and at what level the Council wants the Commission to get involved with the annual financial 313 information, the annual audit report and management letter, the accuracy and effectiveness of the 314