09-26-05 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETINGSEPTEMBER 26, 2005 front of 25,000 people in attendance. They were introduced as the members of the South Bend Silver Hawks, the Minor League Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks and congratulated them on their Championship the first ever in the history of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Councilmember Rouse made a motion to adopt this Resolution. Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried and the Resolution was adopted by a roll call vote of eight (8) ayes. RESOLVE INTO THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE At 7:25 p.m., Councilmember Rouse made a motion to resolve into the Committee of the Whole. Councilmember Kuspa seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. Councilmember White, Vice-President, presiding. Councilmember White explained the procedures to be followed for tonights meeting in ã accordance with Article 1, Section 2-11 of the South Bend Municipal Code and that pamphlets were available to the pubic, which outline the Council rules and procedures, and are located on the railing in the Council Chambers. PUBLIC HEARINGS (BILLS 52-05, 53-05 AND 54-05 COUNCIL PORTION ONLY) BILL NO. 52-05 PUBLIC HEARING ON A BILL LEVYING TAXES AND FIXING THE RATE OF TAXATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF RAISING REVENUE TO MEET THE NECESSARY EXPENSES OF THE CIVIL CITY OF SOUTH BEND FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2006 Councilmember White advised that she would like the record to reflect that the Council has already had the official second reading on this bill. At this time this portion of this meeting will rest with the Councilmembers. If there is any comments or questions that the Councilmembers may have pertaining to Bill 52-05, they may be addressed at this time. Councilmember Varner advised that the request for budget dollars this year suggested or requested the full 3.9% levy. It is not a surprise to anyone that is a resident or a property taxpayer in the City of South Bend that the property taxes are becoming more of a burden every year. This has been thoroughly reviewed exhaustedly almost in some instances. What ever the number is, he is afraid that the property taxes in the City of South Bend are going to continue to rise a bit. He hopes that the Council in the future can look for ways to reduce some of the expenditures, one idea might be that instead of budgeting for the full amount of the levy try to strive for a smaller percentage. Councilmember Varner suggested to bring the idea up now because too many times they get into discussions during budget time and all of a sudden they realize that it is too late to take action He stated that people wonder how the levy was set and why it was set at so high of a percentage. This is just one of the ways that maybe it can be controlled for next year. Councilmember Rouse stated that the Council had to make a very tough decision as to what quality of life they wanted to maintain in the City. So the Council did levy to the maximum in order to present this budge. To give the citizens of the City of South Bend the very best services that we could possible afford. Given all the elements and factors the Council had to consider. Councilmember Kirsits made a motion for favorable recommendation to full council concerning this bill. Councilmember Dieter seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of eight (8) ayes. 6