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Finance Commission Minutes <br />December 13, 2016 – Draft Minutes <br />Page 3 of 7 <br /> <br />Finance Director Miller asked if the justification would be part of the CIP review process. This 92 <br />would involve more staff time and staff is currently doing some of this as part of the budget 93 <br />process. Anything over $5,000 is brought to the City Council for a subsequent discussion that 94 <br />includes a written justification. If including the justification in the CIP would advance this step, 95 <br />then it would not involve additional staff time. All of the items that are brought to the City 96 <br />Council throughout the year were included in that year’s budget. The Council also receives a list 97 <br />of the current year’s capital items that are included in the budget and shows what was spent and 98 <br />what is available. 99 <br /> 100 <br />Commissioner Bachhuber stated the guidelines proposed would be a way for the Council to 101 <br />begin reviewing the CIP and from there they can request a justification from a particular 102 <br />department. 103 <br /> 104 <br />Commissioner Harold stated having a justification could be helpful to explain why a project that 105 <br />seems like it should be pushed off should be considered a higher priority. 106 <br /> 107 <br />Commissioner Zeller stated having a justification would force some discipline in looking at 108 <br />particular items in the CIP and determining if they need to be done that year or if they are being 109 <br />included just because they were listed in that particular year as needing to be replaced. 110 <br /> 111 <br />Chair Schroeder stated if they were going to include a justification there should be a minimum 112 <br />dollar amount that would trigger the requirement of the justification. 113 <br /> 114 <br />Commissioner Konidena stated the threshold could be increased to $10,000 and items over this 115 <br />amount would require a written justification. 116 <br /> 117 <br />Commissioner Hodder stated he was struggling with the value add of a written justification. This 118 <br />could be something that is discussed in greater detail with the City Council at the next joint 119 <br />meeting. 120 <br /> 121 <br />Finance Director Miller stated the current process was the budget year CIP was presented and 122 <br />reviewed by the City Council and those items that are approved by the Council are included in 123 <br />the budget. Prior to the approved items being replaced or purchased they are presented, as part 124 <br />of the consent agenda, for Council approval for a second time. There are times when these 125 <br />approved items are deferred to another year or other items are accelerated to the current year. 126 <br /> 127 <br />Chair Schroeder stated including a justification would provide additional transparency in why 128 <br />and where the City is spending money and these could be included in the minutes so that people 129 <br />who have not attending previous meetings would know the reasons. 130 <br /> 131 <br />Finance Director Miller stated the City Council is currently receiving the information they have 132 <br />requested in the format they have requested it in. Adding more information may not have value 133 <br />to the City Council. The Council does rely on staff to provide guidance because they have so 134 <br />much information they have to review and make decisions on. The City wants to avoid replacing 135 <br />items just because they are in the budget for a particular year. If there is a more optimal time to 136 <br />Item #3: Attachment A