CCMin_59Apr9 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

1191 not bring it up. Thank you very much. Owen My name is William Owen. I live at 17?.8 St. i~iary's Avenue. Mr. Jul~n, I thank you for bringing up the matter of taxes. I am a tax payer and I see around me a lot of happy tax paying faces living in our village. I have very recently had the pleasure of looking into my own personal tax situation. I don't know if I want it made a matter of public record. In 1956, payable 1957 , my taxes were ~555.1~7. Like all good citizens, I expected to pay more money for the things that are built and added to our community, like schools and roads and so forth so I wasn't really upset in 1957 when I paid my taxes, For 1957, they were ~61t~.38 - an increase of X58.01 which was related to a 16 or 17% mill increase in our county and community. In talking; to tho peole in the community I found that they hadn't received their 1958 tax statements. I had. In this particular year, I shall have the rrivilege of paying $113.80 add- itional. My taxes have ~7one up from ~61i~,38 in 1957 to X727,28. This, as I mentioned, represents an increase of X113.80 and in two years X171.81 -- a 31~ increase in taxes in tyro years. I'm not happy about that. It's too darned much money. Now I can't do any- thing about that except urge you people to urge your neighbors and the fellows we vote for to spend a little less money. I don't know the exact figures about apartment house dwellings, but I did see the estimated cost of educating 70 children as being 33 thousand dollars and, a±. our current millape rate, the taxation from the proposed apartment somewhere in the neighborhood of lb thousand dollars. I am not a mathematical genius, but 17 thousand dollars paid out of pocket seems to me to be adding to my tax picture rather than subtracting from it. Now I don't want to vouch for these figures because I didn't do the figuring and don't want to be attacked _for a variance. In talking with city and county officials in Hennepin .and Ramsey Counties, they came up with a statement - they would rather not be quoted because they ti~rant to be voted - but they did say Falcon Heights should en- courage industries and businesses which will give tax relief without creating additional educational tax liabilities. It doesn't take much reasoning to apply what I told you about my property to your own. Now I knoVr that the Village Officials are as interested as I am in keeping taxes at a minimum. I ~~ouldn't errant to imply in any way, shape or form, by word or gesture, or facial expression that I thought they had anything but our best interests at heart, because, gentlemen, I'm sure you do. I know you do, but as I went through our village I found one devil of a lot of people who are concerned about taxes. In fact, one gentler~an greeted me vrith the remark "If you have anything about taxes you want to talk about, Buster, you've come to the right man. Let me get up and see what I've got to say. Now we can sit here fat and happy and dream that these apartment houses will produce more income, but it simply aint so and I think you folks should consider it very carefully before you make decisions. Our committee has recommended to the Village Council that they to it easy -- not hurry into this. I think that~s all any of us vrant. V~fe are all interested in a wise decision and we don't think a hurried decision would be fair to Mr. Lindig or to us. We all respect Mr. Lindig's position -- natura3:ly he would like to have a good return on his property and we would like to have it so too; but, dad rat it folks, we don't i~ran t more taxes by carelessly conceived repres~nta- tions about new construction. Thank you.