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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, November 23, 2009 Page 13 Councilmember Ihlan questioned if the City Council had actually taken a vote that they decided to levy back the actual amount of state aid lost; and opined that levy- ing was not the only alternative, and the budget could be cut by that amount rely- ing on reserves or other sources of revenue. Mayor Klausing advised that no actual vote had been taken, but when the ranking discussions were held, the City Council had indicated a high priority in levying, represented by it then being included in the proposed budget; and questioned if a formal motion would be required. Councilmember Ihlan referenced a recent Pioneer Press newspaper article that she shared verbally, quoting a representative of the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) related to proposed municipal property taxes and averages of various cit- ies. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the City of Roseville was out of step with the rest of the State of MN; and questioned how the City Council could make suggestions (i.e., outdoor skating rinks) without having line items, rather than ranking sheets, available for reference. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the other option of directing the City Manager to cut the levy by percentage points across the board could be very damaging with the limited information available to Councilmembers at this time. Councilmember Ihlan recognized that Council- members had received an updated reserve report from staff and suggested further consideration of using some of those reserves judiciously. Councilmember Ihlan questioned, with the limited information available, why the public should bother to attend the Truth in Taxation hearing if the City Council set the budget tonight; and opined that this would not represent a public process. Mayor Klausing opined that rationale for attempting to set the budget at this meet- ing was 180 degrees different than how Councilmember Ihlan was attempting to paint it; with this BFO process initiated based on past concerns and as a direct re- sponse, and a good one, to involve the public more by having something concrete for them to respond to, with hard numbers on the City Council proposed budget. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the City was not providing the public with suf- ficient background information. Mayor Klausing opined that he and Councilmember Ihlan disagreed on that point. Councilmember Ihlan sought further discussion and individual thoughts on use of reserves in the 2010 budget, those under or over target percentages based on pol- icy, and proposed 2010 budget additions for capital replacement funds and how they were identified in the budget expenditure summaries. Mr. Miller advised that the proposed budget did not increase capital expenditure funds at all.