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Finance Commission Minutes February 14, 2017 – Draft Minutes Page 2 of 8 Chair Schroeder stated the Commission had previously discussed adding a justification piece to 47 the CIP for anything for a set dollar amount and/or near term items. This would also work well 48 with the Commission’s recommendation to include a prioritization piece in the CIP language. 49 50 It was the consensus of the Finance Commission to have a justification section included with CIP 51 items. 52 53 Commissioner Bachhuber stated the format should be impactful but not create too much 54 additional work. 55 56 Commissioner Murray asked what staff’s thoughts were about adding a justification piece. 57 58 Finance Director Miller stated that there has been some discussion about adding additional 59 narrative but he had not asked specifically about the work load that would be involved with 60 compiling this information. The City had done separate justifications for large items in the past 61 but stopped doing this because it was not being used by the Council. 62 63 Commissioner Murray stated this could create more information than the Council would want or 64 need in order to make decisions on the CIP. 65 66 Chair Schroeder stated the CIP is coming up for discussion and review. A justification can be 67 included in either the initial review and approval or prior to the Council approving the 68 expenditure during the year. 69 70 Commissioner Harold stated he would see this as being a part of the annual CIP approval and not 71 included as part of the Council meeting packets. 72 73 Finance Director Miller stated the CIP is a plan for the year and everything over $5000 in the 74 CIP will be brought back to the Council for a secondary approval at individual Council meetings. 75 At this time the item is highlighted and there is discussion about the need for replacement and 76 why. 77 78 Commissioner Zeller suggested the Finance Commission review the CIP in May and if there are 79 items they feel should be justified they could request this additional information be included 80 when it goes to the City Council. There are items in the CIP that are well documented and the 81 City knows they need to be replaced. These should not require any additional work or 82 justification but if there are items that trigger questions by the Finance Commission then they 83 could get additional information or justifications from staff. 84 85 Finance Director Miller asked how this information would be used in the Commission’s advisory 86 capacity to the Council. 87 88 Commissioner Zeller stated if the City decides to start prioritizing items then the additional 89 information would be useful in determining if these items meet the criteria. 90 91