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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, August 24, 2009 Page 19 Mr. Miller advised that staff is always seeking cost-saving and more efficient equipment and operations; and noted the formation of the REACT employee group; the limited options available at this time, under state contract, for hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles; State of MN revisions to their contracting provisions and the need to allow time before significant changes occur to the City's vehicle fleet; and noted that the need or purpose of the vehicle drove their efficiencies, but that this consideration to be as efficient and cost-effective as prudent was always para- mount. Further discussion included clarification of base levies in addition to those items outside established levy limits (i.e., debt service); shifting of the tax burden from the State to cities and property tax payers rather than income tax based support; and confirmation by staff that there is no built-in COLA or salary increases in- cluded in the 2010 budget to-date. Additional discussion included factoring in the impact of decreasing property val- ues and impacts to the City's budget and levy needs; local tax rates on individual property taxes, depending on value changes; review of several scenarios provided by staff on a typical single-family property; trends and census information for un- employment and wages for state and national levels, but not readily available for Roseville; and election expenses for 2010 that was not accrued in previous budg- ets as had been the past practice. Further discussion included unalloted funds, timing for temporary measures, and those items needing long-term cuts; impacts in the State's actions with homestead credits and perceptions of local government being the instigator rather than the state; original purpose of market value homestead credits; and the need for the City Council to set their levy at more than needed for current operational costs to ensure sufficient funds from the portion to be received. Discussion ensued regarding the HRA levy, separate and based on their work plan and strategic plan, with final decisions by the HRA anticipated at their upcoming meeting on August 31, 2009, and recognizing the challenges while anticipating programming needs; and the HRA levy limits based on a percentage of the City's tax base, but well below that limit to-date. Councilmembers and staff discussed the intent of the upcoming Special Council meetings based on available information and additional information that could be provided by staff between tonight's meeting and then, recognizing the limited time to prepare any additional information. Mr. Miller advised that the first priority of the City Council would be to establish their priorities and thresholds; what they'd expect the community to pay for ser- vices and programs that they've become accustomed to, followed by staff's rec-