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Regular City Council Meeting <br />September 4,2003 <br />Page 17 <br /> <br />Councilman Bell said the franchise fee is a standard of 3%, which is not <br />unusual. The $750,000.00 that is an administrative fee. He stated that he did <br />not understand or see the justification for this fee. Councilman Bell said that <br />$350,000.00 is closer to a realistic figure. <br /> <br />Mr. Anderson explained that figure originally came back from the 80's as a part <br />of one of the things that the city asked the rate consultants to do and what a <br />reasonable amount of a transfer would be and that is how that was developed. <br /> <br />Councilman Bell said he did not want to actually cut the budget. He said if <br />they take this from $750,000.00 to $350,000.00, that would leave $400,000.00 <br />to go toward catching up the upside down debt service the city has in the Water <br />Department to try to get that balanced. He felt it was much more important <br />there. <br /> <br />Mayor Fendley asked Mr. Anderson if the city could prepay debt without a <br />penalty. Mr. Anderson said they can do an advance refunding. Most of their <br />bond issues, when they are issued for 20 years with a 10 year point, are where <br />you can call and do what is called a prefunding if it is financially feasible. That <br />is what they have been looking at. He said of the last two refundings, one was <br />current and one was a prefunding because they could not call for another year. <br />He said none of them that the city has, other than the ones that they are looking <br />at, are cost effective at this point. Mr. Anderson said on the flip side of that is <br />it is placing pressure on the General Fund because that is a revenue to the that <br />fund. <br /> <br />Councilman Bell said that on page 236, line item number 0399 remove <br />$400,000.00 and take that $400,000.00 and put it back against the debt service, <br />which is down a 1.6 million dollars, and try to get it balanced. The citizens do <br />not need any more taxes or water increases and the Council is going to have to <br />figure out how to do that. Mayor Fendley said the upside down on the debt <br />service fund is not in the debt service. It is in the operating fund. Mr. Anderson <br /> <br /> <br />