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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, November 09, 2009 Page 13 funding in annual budgets to preserve the City's assets, a failure in past budgets. Councilmember Ihlan further addressed the funding for TIF that would otherwise go toward atax-supported budget; and taking funds from School District and County operating budgets as well. Further discussion ensued related to perceptions and limitations for TIF funding allotments; government transparencies and how composite rank- ings were determined. Councilmember Pust, using as an example, page 3, line 97, Parks Mainte- nance snow plowing and apparently disparate composite rankings between the City Council (4.2) and staff (2.8). City Manager Malinen advised that, part of the benefit of the BFO proc- ess, was better identifying particular costs in providing a service or pro- gram; and comparing it to other programs and costs. City Manager Ma- linen suggested that staff may have felt that less maintenance of paths in wintertime was less of a priority than other services and/or programs. Parks and Recreation Director Lonnie Brokke noted the need to define what the ranking numbers actually meant. Mr. Brokke advised that when he ranked the categories, if it was something currently being done, he ap- plied a " 3;" if a mandatory item, he ranked it a "5;" and if it provided a revenue stream to off-set costs, he ranked it a "4." Mr. Brokke noted that Mayor Klausing had ranked the items based on different criteria; and opined that those perspectives made a difference in the composite process. Councilmember Pust advised that she had ranked pathway maintenance in the winter as a "5" based on potential liability issues. Mr. Brokke advised that he had ranked it as a " 3" since the maintenance was currently being done. Mr. Brokke noted that it also depending on the ranking of Springsted's analysis of full-time staffing, and included items such as ice technicians, mowers, and misc. consumables such as fuel. Mayor Klausing suggested, as the City Council and staff went through the BFO process for the 2011 budget, that a meaningful discussion was on what each of the categories meant; noting that Councilmember Roe's ranking was based on what we wanted the City to excel at, and his rank- ings were based on even different criteria. Councilmember Roe noted under the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and Ethics Commission, the recommended budget provided a significant