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Truth in Taxation pgs 1-8 Regular City Council Meeting pgs 9-15 Monday, December O1, 2008 Page 6 comes; and suggested that perhaps those at the upper level of management within the City may not necessarily need to receive a 3.5% COLA. Mr. Grefenberg further addressed comparisons with the Shoreview Community Center and user fees 24% higher than Shoreview residents due to their non-resident status; and questioned whether the City didn't need to seriously consider increasing the fees for non- residents at the Skating Center rather than continuing to subsidize operations at an amount estimated by him to be $64,000. Mr. Grefenberg compared proposed levy increases with the Cities of Falcon Heights and Shoreview, as well as the City of St. Paul. Mr. Grefenberg expressed confidence that the City Council could back off staff training for one year without dire consequences;. ques- tioned why the City needed to continue to pay for magazine subscriptions for the Skating Center; and advised that he had a list of 14 proposals to present to staff and the City Council of other cost saving suggestions for their consideration. Mr. Grefenberg sug- gested that the City consider freezing any non-salary costs for the remainder of the year as another cost-saving option. Mr. Grefenberg provided his suggestions to City Manager Malinen as a bench handout for distribution to City Councilmembers. Mr. Grefenberg suggested that the City Council appoint a citizen group, chaired by Fi- nancial Advisor and former City Councilmember Dean Maschka, who would meet 2-3 times, to provide an independent review of the City's spending and revenue situations. Mr. Grefenberg opined that residents received good services; however, it was time to start prioritizing those services. Mr. Grefenberg opined that he would like others outside City Hall to give Councilmembers and staff some suggestions. Mr. Grefenberg asked what major new programs or program expansions were represented by this proposed budget increase. Mayor Klausing responded to Mr. Grefenberg's query by clarifying that there were no new programs or expanded programs proposed at all in the proposed budget. Mr. Grefenberg opined that, since much of the budget was tied to personnel costs, step increases should be frozen for one year, and should only be discretionary, not a given. Mr. Grefenberg further noted that the City of Shoreview depended on the contracted po- lice services of Ramsey County rather than their own Police Department; and suggested that this might be a larger discussion question beyond tonight's consideration. Mr. Grefenberg further opined that a number of people who would suffer from this pro- posed levy increase would be renters; and that it would only add to their monthly ex- penses and impact them based on the City Council's decisions. Mr. Grefenberg asked that, if not now, he would like a future response as to why an addi- tional $400,000 was being proposed for the City's Police Department budget.