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give more detail to the casual reader of the Budget, so they understand that much of what we are doing here has been reviewed, and reviewed very thoroughly by the Council- in spite of what some candidates might say during an Election." MEMO 7/7/98 Council Member Claire said, "We are a City between 70,000 and 85,000... We have approximately 553 employees in this Budget, which is slightly more than the 525 employees we had in the 1978 Budget after passage of Prop 13 when we wiped out 75 positions, if I remember correctly, and which we never replaced." He said that over the past two decades City staff has grown about .6% and considering the amount of work that has increased, that was remarkable. Council Member Claire said Palo Alto has about 20% fewer residents and its General Fund Budget is $96 million, 100% larger than Redwood City's. He said Redwood City has done an excellent job of holding the line on general expenditures. He said his only concern was the very large Reserve included in the Budget, equal to about 20% of the General Fund. Council Member Claire said San Mateo's Charter sets a limit for Reserves at 5% of the General Fund. He said that during his review of the Budgetary process he would be looking at whether 20% Reserves was necessary, and added that the City of Palo Alto's Reserve was even higher than Redwood City's. He said he didn't want needed projects put on hold while the City had a Reserve of20% of the General Fund. MEMO 7/7/98 Council Member Ira agreed to have the Finance Committee on which he serves, review the Budget format. He also agreed that more detail would be appropriate. Council Member Ira said that at the last Council Meeting, it was established that about 70% of the Budget was already committed to matters such as employee salaries and benefits and fixed costs, and there was not that much flexibility left in the Budget. He said one area with some flexibility was Supplies and Services and he wanted to review that issue. He said that people have a tendency to always want the newest and the best if someone else is footing the bill. He said he wanted to be sure that City money was spent wisely and not wasted, and for people to see that, they needed to see more details. Council Member Ira said that was an area that needed improvement, without making the Budget so thick no one would want to read it. He added that it was imperative for the Council, as stewards of the City's money, to exercise care and diligence during the Budgetary process. MEMO 7/7/98 BUDGET STUDY SESSION MINUTE BOOK NO. 57 JULY6,1998 MINUTES Page No. 054 PAGE 11