La Crosse City Council president Tamra Dickinson in studio ahead of a busy stretch, including the final meeting on next year's city budget and dueling city administrator proposals. 

The city is facing a $681,000 budget gap, and a council committee last month favored raising property taxes rather than using money from the city's reserves — and those property tax numbers increased $5 since that meeting. Could the full council change course before approving the budget?

The council also has two competing proposals for creating a city administrator position — a charter ordinance authored by two council members and a non-charter proposal from Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey.

Dickinson explains why she believes the council needs more time to work through the details, what questions still need to be answered and why she favors the mayor's approach over the charter proposal.

Other things we discussed included council Districts 1-6 being up for election in April and whether Dickinson will run for a second term. We also hit on voters in the fall election approving the creation of a new city healthcare committee, what it could accomplish and how residents can get involved.

Lastly, we ended the show briefly discussing the city ending its $8,000 contract with Flock for next year.election.

Here's what we get into:

• The budget decision: Why a council committee favored raising property taxes instead of dipping into reserves to cover the $681,000 shortfall — and whether the full council could change that decision Monday.

• A bigger tax increase: The difference between the originally projected $13.60 and the revised $18.10 increase per $100,000 of property value.

• The city's reserves: How much money La Crosse has set aside and why Dickinson believes there's room to use some of it.

• Two city administrator proposals: The differences between the charter ordinance and the mayor's non-charter proposal.

• Why the rush? Dickinson questions why the council is revisiting the issue without more discussion, saying it needs to establish what the position would actually do and how it would be funded.

• Her preferred approach: Why Dickinson favors the non-charter proposal, including the ability to make future changes without needing a supermajority.

• The healthcare committee: What the newly approved committee is supposed to accomplish, who could serve and how it could help bring healthcare concerns to state and federal officials.

• Looking ahead to April: Dickinson confirms she's planning to run for reelection in the city's 1st District.

• Flock cameras: The eight license plate-reading cameras have been covered and taken out of service, eliminating an $8,000 expense from the city's budget. Could La Crosse eventually invest in its own camera system and keep control of the data?