09-10-2003 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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involvement and minimum county involvement. Minimum county involvement would be to continue the status quo. It is not necessary to have the County do the levying. If the local units of government feel that an HRA levy is appropriate, then let them control it, let them be accountable for it. When it shows up on the local tax statement, our five city council members and mayor are more accessible to the residents than the County and if they object or oppose to that or how that money is being used, our elected officials are going to hear about it first. The only argument that made a certain amount of sense was that for those units of government or those municipalities that are so small that their levy doesn't amount to a whole lot, and I think there was reference to the 35W coalition communities wanting to collaborate on this, there is nothing that prevents them from doing that. They do not need special legislation, they do not need a County HRA levy. The city of White Bear Lake is happy with having its own HRA and its own authority for taxation. Darryl LeMire of the White Bear Lake City Council told the group their big issue is trying to keep the budget balanced without raising deeds or taxes. They have recently struggled over $500 in several meetings and the County is now talking about $55,000. Vadnais Heights Gerry Urban, representing Vadnais Heights, reported their city council has not had a second meeting on this proposal, however, it was felt that because Vadnais Heights does have an EDA that has HRA capabilities, they do have the ability to do this on their own. It is felt this is a good opportunity for smaller cities like Vadnais Heights as it is very difficult for smaller communities to store up the dollars to have a project. Mr. Urban stated the funding proposal is very creative and likes the distribution. He also felt the formula as proposed is reasonable. Mr. Urban said the city of Vadnais Heights was undeveloped back in the 1960's and there was a lot of demolition landfill materials from St. Paul being buried out there. Old Anchor Hospital is buried at the intersection of 135E and County Road E. He told the group that site has unstable ground conditions that does not qualify for a lot of the tax increment financing laws. That is an area of concern, In general, the Vadnais Heights council felt that the timing of the proposal was wrong. Even though they probably got hit less with the State aid cuts than a lot of communities, they are still talking about $25,000. The city is only able to levy for up to 60% of that cost, so they are going to have very difficult budgeting concerns this year. In addition, very few people in Vadnais Heights know about the Housing Resource Center. They wondered if some of their activities such as assisting with building permits and applications etc: are a duplication of- services: They all have building officials that do that kind of work. However, in general, the city of Vadnais Heights thinks that the concept could be an advantage for small cities and, therefore, would like to see outcomes and see what other communities have to say on the subject. There are going to be pressures on county, local communities and school districts so timing is not right. It has to be a