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Council members urge budget tradeoffs, question using taxes as default response
Summary
Several council members pressed for specific expenditure reductions and alternatives to a property-tax increase, including phased hiring, reduced General Fund growth, and reviewing high departmental wage adjustments; staff said some market-driven pay increases were necessary to retain employees.
Several council members told the June 16 special session they want the Council to identify concrete budget tradeoffs before approving permanent tax increases.
"It would take a significant change in circumstances for me to support one," Council Member Tim Holley said as he described concerns about cumulative household costs and proposed city spending. Holley told colleagues he had submitted options to identify the $660,000 needed for fire staffing without increasing taxes, including re-examining wage increases and other General Fund expenditures. He added he would allow the proposed rate to proceed to the Truth in Taxation process but said he was unlikely to support it at final adoption.
Other council members, including Clark Taylor, framed the concern as philosophical and urged staff and council members to identify services that could be reduced or deferred if they chose to avoid a tax increase. City staff and the City Administrator responded that some recent pay increases were market-driven: David Bunker explained benchmarking had required larger adjustments in areas such as library services, engineering, and building inspection to recruit and retain employees.
