City Council Study Session Summary 2009 08 11

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City Council Study Session Summary August 11, 2009 Page 4 of 6 The Mayor and Council offered their support for the work plan and thanked the members of the Planning Commission for their work and dedication. Options for Reducing the Gap Between General Fund Revenues and Expenditures City Manager Fleming went over revenue numbers to-date for 2009 and projected revenue for the remainder of the year. He noted that revenue is down approximately 7% from last year and 9% from budget for the year. He noted that the City Council approved the use of $400,000 to $600,000 from City reserves to help off set the reduced revenue, but even with that funding and the expected $300,000 “turnback”, the City needs to cut approximately $1.5 million combined from the 2009 and 2010 budgets to address the shortfall. Fleming reported on the results of the formal survey on Louisville registered voters’ willingness to support either cuts in service levels or various tax and fee increases to resolve the budget shortfall. He stated that the key results from the survey are: NRC sent out 1,000 surveys to a scientific sample of Louisville registered voters and received 508 responses. 98% of respondents think the quality of life in Louisville is excellent or good 81% think the value of services for the taxes paid to the City is good to excellent 63% and 64% respectively feel that the property tax and sales tax rates are about right 54% would rather see service levels reduced to balance the budget Depending on how the question is asked, 51% to 65% of respondents would support reducing community events if the City had to reduce services to cut costs Depending on how the question is asked, 48% to 59% of respondents would support reducing open space maintenance/acquisition if the City had to reduce services to cut costs 49% or fewer of respondents would support reducing other services If the City asked voters to approve a tax increase to cover rising costs and the amount of revenue raised from each tax or fee was equal, 62% of respondents said they would support a residential building use tax, 48% said they would support a transportation fee and 46% said they would support a consumer use tax. Based on Council’s direction, the City Manager worked with the Department Directors and staff to prepare a list of 87 budget options. The list of actions is categorized into three priority levels: A: Staff recommends taking this action now B: Staff recommends taking this action in 2010