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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, August 16, 2010 Page 15 General Fund as proposed by staff, to allow fee-generated monies to be set aside for planning and economic development as a necessary function of the City; opin- ing that it would be a challenge to the City's operations if those functions were not in place. Councilmember Roe asked Mr. Miller to clarify if it was fair to say that over the last few years, the City had been using Community Development budget reserves to accommodate market downturns; and now there were no longer significant re- serves to continue doing so; with the need to cut costs of shift how those functions are funded. Mr. Miller concurred with Councilmember Roe's interpretation of the situation Councilmember Ihlan requested staff follow-up to provide a list of any new posi- tions filled in the comparable time period of the reduction of nine (9) FTE's; posi- tion that didn't' exist before, not replacements of existing positions. City Manager Malinen requested direction from Councilmembers if staff was still on the right track with their projected preliminary levy increase, or whether the City Council had a different direction or reduced levy they preferred, in anticipa- tion of the upcoming September 15, 2010 deadline for the .Preliminary, not-to- exceed budget and levy. Mr. Miller noted that there was only one more meeting before the September 13, 2010 meeting at which time the City Council would set that Preliminary Levy, and that the August 23 meeting was significantly filled with land use items; with staff not intending to come back before the City Council on budget-related items before September 13, 2010. Councilmember Roe questioned if staff had received enough feedback from the City Council to-date to bring forth an action item. City Manager Malinen advised that staff had considered and incorporated Council comments to-date; however, reiterated that if the City Council had any preference to adjust the staff-proposed levy from its current level, and based on the limita- tions or constraints on the dollar amount available, staff requested that input now before proceeding further at the proposed preliminary levy recommendations. Councilmember Roe encouraged individual Councilmembers to provide guidance to staff. Mayor Klausing opined that he was comfortable with the proposed preliminary recommendation by staff.