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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, November 23, 2009 <br />Page 7 <br />Councilmember Ihlan expressed frustration that she had not yet received the line <br />items and budget worksheets to support the budget expenditure summaries, as she <br />had requested at two previous meetings; and had not found the information posted <br />on the City's website. <br />Mr. Miller reiterated City Manager Malinen's response from the last meeting <br />when the information had been requested, that there was no 2010 line item pre- <br />pared as had been done in previous years, with staff focusing on program-type <br />budgeting over the last few months. Mr. Miller further reiterated that Mr. Ma- <br />linen and he had advised Councilmembers and the public that the 2009 line items <br />budget, posted on the website, had changed little for the 2010 proposed budget; <br />and that those few changes were highlighted in orange and blue on the 2010 prior- <br />ity ranked budget matrix. <br />Councilmember Thlan expressed concern that, without the documents all in one <br />place, it was difficult to understand where changes were reflected between 2009 <br />and 2010; and if most categories hadn't changed, why decreases or increases were <br />listed on the budget summaries. Councilmember Ihlan advised that she was pre- <br />pared to make a formal motion to get this information at tonight's meeting; opin- <br />ing that she had to have those itemizations behind the figures in the summary; fur- <br />ther opining that it was public information, and if her motion failed or there was <br />no response to it, she was prepared to make a public information request; further <br />opining that this was public information that was desperately needed. <br />Ihlan moved, Pust seconded, that the City Council direct staff to produce line item <br />breakdowns or budget worksheets for 2010 budget by the end of this work week, <br />Wednesday, November 25, 2009, to allow the City Council to work on them be- <br />fore the Truth in Taxation Hearing, as previously requested at the last two meet- <br />ings; and that the information be provided to Councilmembers electronically, and <br />posted on the City's website for public information. <br />Mayor Klausing spoke in opposition to the motion; opining that it had been ad- <br />dressed in the past, and did not serve to move the City Council forward in terms <br />of a comprehensive budget discussion. Mayor Klausing opined that the discus- <br />sion needed to hinge on what general programs and services valued by the com- <br />munity and which were most important to individual Councilmembers and by <br />consensus, to the majority. Mayor Klausing admitted that this first attempt at a <br />Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) process had been [less than] perfect, but had been <br />helpful in forcing the City Council and public to review what was done and de- <br />termine our priorities within that framework. Mayor Klausing concurred with <br />staff that the information was available on the website for 2009; and opined that <br />the City Council could make budget decisions on the information provided to- <br />date. <br />