City Council Minutes 2009 04 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes April 21 ,2009 Page 6 of 8 MOTION: Councilor Sackett moved to approve the contract with Gibbons White, Inc., for Real Estate Services, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Marsella. Roll call vote was taken. The motion carried by a vote of 7-0. UPDATE/DISCUSSION LONG-TERM FINANCIAL PLANNING/BUDGET PRESENTATIONS City Manager Fleming reported on meetings during the months of March and April with various groups and conducting public meetings to discuss the Long- Term Financial Plan for the City. This was done in an effort to seek feedback on the City's current budget, any services or programs which may be considered unnecessary, additional services or infrastructure desirable beyond the current budget capacity, future funding needs and potential support for additional revenue sources. The City Manager met with BRaD, the DBA, Louisville Seniors, the Lions Club, and the Chamber of Commerce, held a CEO Forum and conducted two public meetings to solicit comments from residents and Louisville Boards and Commissions. All total, approximately 150 people attended. A comment handout sheet was provided at each meeting seeking further input. A total of 76 comments sheets were returned, reflecting 50% said they would pay additional taxes, 14% would not pay additional taxes, and 33% did not respond to the question. The comment sheet asked respondents who support a tax increase to rank their preference among sales, property, construction use, consumer use, lodging and other taxes. Support for property tax and sales tax increases were 35%. A consumer use tax received 24% support. Staff proposes to conduct a formal survey/poll on the community's willingness to support various tax increases. The most detailed survey proposal was from NRC. It included the cost for a 3-page survey plus cover letter sent to 1,000 households, tabulation of the results and an executive summary for a cost of approximately $7,554. The total also includes materials and postage. If Council approves, Staff will proceed with the survey and have the result available in June, to assist in the 2010 budget process. Staff requested Council appoint two Council members to work with Staff to finalize the survey questions. PUBLIC COMMENT Richard Miller, 1230 Kennedy, Louisville, CO stated if the City does not want to put a tax question on the ballot, a citizen survey is unnecessary. He felt it would be a waste of money to conduct the survey. Michael Menaker, 1827 Choke Cherry Drive, Louisville, CO also had concerns relative to the survey. He suggested the two Councilors, who are selected to review the survey questions, carefully provide a full explanation on tax issues,