01/02/1995 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Special Council Meeting 1/2/95 Page Three Mr. Diemert said it will be Council's determination at that time, along with the Mayor, to verify that the revenues are being used as has been consistent with your discussions the past several months on what it would be used for. Mr. Ferrante said it depends on the report we get back from the school. Mayor Rinker said he suggested this language insofar as people, not only on Council, but he has gotten reports back from various Council representatives what they hear in the community at large from those who are concerned in our sharing the revenue. A lot of the discussions are that we are giving away something we shouldn't, that we should be safeguarding this better. He has said on a number of occasions, and this is consistent with the way that it has been presented by the Superintendent himself, to us. We were trying to articulate, set forth a vehicle, something that made sense for us to share. We could run through a whole spectrum of ideas. Some people might say $100,000 isn't enough, let's just give the money and forget about it because it is for a good cause. That might be one extreme. The other is that this is our money; we have so many things we need to do, we need to safeguard these dollars. We shouldn't give them that money, either at all--or we shouldn't give them that much. A lot of the discussion has taken us from whether or not to do it period, or a smaller amount to get up to the $100,000. In the course of discussion, what I heard was well, we are just giving away our money, the school should be tightening its belt; that they should learn how to manage their budget better, in other ways. We could go on that until the cows come home. His thought was he is not afraid to state that he thinks this is a good and responsible way for us to earmark tax dollars. Typically, what we do when we appropriate funds as a government entity (you as a Council when you appropriate that) have an idea of the nuts and bolts of the program. You expect it to be used for a particular purpose (if it is a sewer, a street, whatever.) This is not as clear cut. Frankly, he thinks Council should give some clear thought to some additional legislation or use this as enabling legislation to set up some kind of criteria that should be applied. There is no question in his mind that this only sets forth the general philosophy. What would go on at that meeting, it is not spelled out. It may have to be evolved over time. However, you look at it, we are taking taxpayers dollars and putting them into a particular program. Unlike a lot of the taxes that go to the school, about the only time you can comment is if there is a levy vote. Then you have to look at the whole expenditure. This is one area. That is why I have said I used an endowment; it's a capital improvement. It is an investment into a general category. You don't have every little (we aren't going to nit-pick on those.) He does not think we want to encourage that, because he does not think we are going to get very far if we do that. But, we at least know it will be put to a particular purpose-- Center School and the High School; you can tell taxpayers this is where your money is going to go. It is going to be used for these particular purposes. I anticipate that every