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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, Deceinber 5, 2016 Page 18 $400,000 — and suggested all be allocated toward CIP needs to address a signifi- cant deficit in several of those funds or as mLlch as possible. Councilmember Et- ten opined that this would serve to take care of future levies and general budget needs. Councilmember Laliberte opined that these reserves are taxpayer dollars that have already been levied, not a windfall, but already paid to the city. However, Coun- cilmember Laliberte agreed that it was a great idea to put those reserves toward CII' needs; but clarified that from her perspective the city had over-levied and that was why the reserves were available now; with this action serving to address that reality. Regarding the City's COLA policy, Councilmember Laliberte clarified that this City Council had created that policy and could revisit it at any time. Since it has been approved, Councilmember Laliberte opined that there had been no recom- inendations to follow it from staff or the City Council. If inflation is tracking at 1.5%, Councilmember Laliberte asked if the City Council was supporting a 2% COLA, how could it be said that the city didn't value its staff; while if planning a COLA at 3% that double the rate of inflation, it wasn't necessary. Specific to the business of the reserves being taxpayer monies resulting from the city over-levying, Councilmember McGehee disagreed with that perspective, es- pecially given the reality of three CIP funds currently running off the cliff, indi- cating that the city hasn't been taking care of ongoing business needs year after year, and now attempting to address it versus pushing it off further and not resolv- ing the problem. Councilmember McGehee opined that she had been the only council member providing significant ideas to address expenditures. Coun- cilmember McGehee opined that the city had not over-levied or wasted taxpayer monies, but had long-neglected infrastructure issues and were trying to protect services in the community. Councilmember McGehee noted it was repeatedly supported by taxpayers that they wanted their parks system, and therefore they needed to be maintained since they hadn't been in many past years. Councilmember Etten referenced an email he received earlier from Finance Direc- tor Miller noting the $1.1 reserves from 2012 to 2016, it represented a total net in- crease of $27,650 to the General Fund, opining that confirmed staff wasn't far off in their annual budgeting; and dropped reserve levels accardingly. Councilmem- ber Etten opined that the perception that the city was overtaxing its residents served to create a misunderstanding with this one-time money, which was not a windfall but unanticipated TIF monies with a specific program and situation tar- geted. Councilmember Etten further noted that of that reserve amount $356,000 belonged in the 2015 budget levy due to delayed tax proceeds because of pending tax appeals, and shouldn't really count as an overtax for the 2016 budget year. Councilmember Etten opined that the responsible action would be to put the mon- ies toward CIP dollars to reduce future levies; since the goal and real purpose