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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, December 06, 2010 Page 3 consideration, following public comment, to go through budget impact items and make decisions at the City Council level. Mr. Miller advised that whether to address revenue reductions with further budget reductions was at the City Council's direction; and that the proposed recommendations were staffs projec- tions to retain services and programs at existing standards, with the two choices being to raise property taxes or repurpose money form other programs. Councilmember Ihlan noted the reallocation of a new program for code enforcement in the Gen- eral Fund tax supported levy rather than its previous funding source through building permit Mayor Klausing reminded the public that their property valuations were determining their taxes, and were calculated by Ramsey County, not the City of Roseville, and asked Mr. Miller to re- view that process and any appeal recourse for taxpayers. Mr. Miller noted that Ramsey Council annually reviewed market value projections, through use of sales data of similar homes; and advised taxpayers that they can dispute and appeal the value of their properties each spring at Ramsey County when their tax notes are mailed out, with the next mailing in the spring of 2011; and suggested taxpayers could also contact Ramsey County Property Taxes at any time with specific questions related to property values. Mayor Klausing opened the Public Hearing at approximately 6:44 p.m. Public Comment Dick Lambert, 800 Brenner Avenue Mr. Lambert provided graphs of his comments by bench handout, attached hereto and made a part hereof, consisting of his comparisons with other metropolitan area communities of resident wage increases and cumulative City of Roseville property tax levy increases per person versus resident wage increases for multiple years and their negative disparities. Mr. Lambert requested that the City of Roseville adopt a policy that taxes (spending) goes up or down in accordance with resident wages. Greg Ryan, Roseville Resident Mr. Ryan expressed his frustration in the decline in his construction business between 1984 and today; and the continuing struggles of individuals and businesses during the economic downturn. Mr. Ryan opined that it was incumbent that the City seriously take that current situation into ac- count and bring property taxes in line with the economic situation; rather than continue to raise taxes and fees when property values continued to decline and businesses were struggling to maintain their employees and livelihoods. Mr. Ryan further opined that if the City wanted to be competitive and see the City grow, they should cut business owner tax liabilities in half in Rose- ville, and the City would see phenomenal construction growth and people moving into the com- munity. Mr. Ryan provided anecdotal information on his business and rental properties and the significant reductions in rental income, and inability to sell the property due to the current econ- omy. Mr. Ryan expressed surprise that more residents were not present to voice their opinions on the proposed tax levy increase; when employees and employers were seeing reductions in