Laserfiche WebLink
1 most cities are experiencing on items such as property /casualty insurance coverage, employee <br />2 health care coverage, additional security costs, and lower returns on invested funds. <br />3 <br />4 Two of the stated goals of advocates of the 2001 tax bill were to make the property tax <br />5 more of a local tax and to increase local accountability for the property tax. However, levy limits <br />6 clearly violate these goals by involving the state in local budget decisions. <br />7 <br />8 Response: City councils are elected to make decisions about local budgets and <br />9 meeting community needs. It is inappropriate for the Legislature to undermine local <br />10 decision - making and accountability through the continued imposition of levy limits. Levy <br />11 limits should expire. <br />12 <br />13 FF -6. Reverse Referendum (GC) <br />14 <br />15 Issue: Proposals to impose a reverse referendum requirement on municipal property tax <br />16 increases would diminish the ability of local elected officials to respond to the needs of their <br />17 communities. In addition, the reverse referendum proposals that have been recently offered <br />18 would disrupt the local budget process by potentially requiring a public referendum in late <br />19 January, nearly one month into the city's fiscal year. <br />20 <br />21 Response: The League supports the principle of representative democracy and <br />22 opposes reverse referendum requirements. <br />24 FF -7. City Revenue Diversification (GC) <br />25 <br />26 Issue: Under current state law, the property tax is the only generally accessible form of <br />27 local tax revenue for cities. Recent retrenchment in state aid programs will likely increase city <br />28 reliance on property taxes in the future. Allowing cities to diversify their revenue stream would <br />29 prevent rapid rises in property taxes. <br />30 <br />31 Response: Cities should be able to diversify their sources of revenues. <br />32 <br />33 FF -8. Taxation of Municipal Bond Interest (GC) <br />34 <br />35 Issue: The state law that grants a tax exemption for municipal bond interest lowers <br />36 borrowing costs for cities and reduces property tax levies. <br />37 <br />38 Response: The state should maintain the tax exemption for municipal bond interest <br />39 income. <br />40 <br />41 FF -9. City Fiscal Year (GC) <br />42 <br />43 <br />cycle. <br />Issue: The fiscal year for cities and counties currently corresponds to the property tax <br />3 <br />