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PROPOSED HRA SUBURBAN TAX ZEVYAND 2004 FUNDING DISTRIBUTION For over a year there has been on-going discussions about a suburban Ramsey County Housing and Redevelopment Authority tax levy to help meet local needs. However, communities have expressed reservations about the tax levy that include the possible loss of local control and a belief that smaller cities would not receive a direct benefit or be able access funds. During the past legislative session amulti-city HRA levy was proposed that was purported to address some communities' needs by funding the Housing Resource Center: But this plan could have resulted in overlapping tax levies, would have created an unnecessary level of government and would have granted taxing authority to appointed rather than elected officials. Using its own HRA powers, Ramsey County has the ability to (1) meet the needs of its varied cities and townships, (2) avoid additional levels of local government, (3) address individual community concerns, (4) avoid overlapping levies and (5) maximize community benefit. In response, the following levy/funding proposal is submitted for consideration by the Ramsey County HRA Board and the 18 suburban communities within the County. The proposal assures an equitable distribution of levy dollars yet provides for • Maximum local control; • Maximum flexibility permitted under state statute; • Minimum county involvement; • Local accountability;. • An on-going source of funding; • • Benefit in every community; • Achievement of County HRA goals as spelled out in the yearly plan; and • Maximum leverage of non-county matching resources. Under the proposal, spending approval by the Ramsey County Board would be required but the restrictions on spending would be limited to those purposes spelled out in state statutes. As envisioned, the proposal would include the following operational benefits to local communities: • Funds may be combined with other resources for project support; • Communities may pool levy funds to achieve common goals; o Communities may accumulate annual appropriations for up to five years in order to support major projects; • After five years annual appropriations would be placed in a special suburban pool and made available to all communities on a competitive basis; • Once the 5-year maximum accumulated funds are reduced, annual allocations would again revert to the local community to the 5-year maximum amount; • Local communities would be involved in drafting guidelines for distribution of the excess appropriation pool; and s All spending decisions are made by local elected officials. A .948% suburban tax levy (less than 1%) would yield $805,800 for distribution to local communities as shown in the attached chart. The levy includes approximately 5% ($35,000) for county management expenses such as compliance reviews, budget and accounting services, and county related attorney services and $15,800 for uncollectable taxes, Revised 9-9-03