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Finance Commission Minutes August 21, 2014 Page 5 of 9 Commissioner Konidena asked if the recommendations of the Commission would impact the 2015 budget. Finance Director Miller stated any guidance the Commission provides to the Council before the end of the year would be considered for the 2015 budget. The City Manager recommended budget does call for using some reserves towards the tax levy. Vice Chair Rohloff explained the reason he would recommend transferring funds to other funds would be if one fund is high and there are needs in other funds it would not make sense to buy down the levy. Commissioner Bachhuber explained he does not agree with the transferring of funds but would agree with loans between the funds to keep the accounting clean. Commissioner Konidena stated this would be a discussion once the Peer Group is established. Commissioner Bachhuber clarified that based on the information they have and the Reserve Funds being over the target goal, the recommendation of the City Manager to buy down the levy would be supported by the Commission. Commissioner Schroeder stated the Council is asking the Commission to come up with some solid policy ideas that could go into the future. The recommendations may affect the 2015 budget but they are really looking for policies that would be effective long term. Commissioner Konidena stated he would not be comfortable making a solid recommendation because the data is all over the place and only stabilized in the last three years. Commissioner Zeller stated he would not recommend changing the goals at this time. Vice Chair Rohloff moved, Seconded by Commissioner Zeller to recommend to the City Council if the reserves are over the targeted goal amount they should be transferred to a reserve needing additional funds or used to spend down the levy. Commissioner Bachhuber suggested amending the recommendation so if the combined reserve dollars are outside of the combined range then it would be advisable for the City Council to create a plan to move these reserves into the established ranged. Commissioner Hodder stated a more general combined look at the funds would not create potential problems with the City's accounting standards and it would maintain the integrity of the individual funds. Vice Chair Rohloff stated the implementation section of the current Cash Reserve Policy states all fund reserves shall be reviewed each year at the time of annual budget preparation for the purpose of complying with this policy.