04-12-2012 Charter Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Amendment pertaining to Charter Chapter 1 Section 1.04. Charter Commission. The City shall have an ongoing Charter Commission with responsibility for maintaining and updating the Charter, and for informing residents of the meaning or impact of proposed Charter amendments. Members of the Charter Commission shall be appointed by the Chief Judge of the local district court, and shall receive no compensation. Section 1.05. Amendments to this Charter. All proposed amendments to the Charter and corresponding ballot wording shall be submitted to the Charter Commission for review. The City Council may not directly or indirectly use public funds to inform the public about an amendment unless the City Council provides the Charter Commission with equal funds and opportunities to inform the public about the amendment. Amendment pertaining to Charter Chapter 7 Section 7.13. Tax Cap. The City shall be restricted in the amount it can raise taxes each year. The maximum levy shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of Minn. Stat. §§ 275.70 to 275.74 (2010), as modified below. If the state legislature adopts new levy limits, the City shall be restricted to the lesser of the limits imposed under the laws in 2010, and the new limits. The City's levy for the year 2011 shall be used as the starting point for calculating all subsequent levy adjustments. Any unused levy authority from 2011 or prior years may not be used. Levies imposed on a majority of the property owners in the City for a new special district or utility (such as a storm sewer improvement district, storm sewer utility, or lake improvement district) created after 2010 shall be included in the levy limit. These levies will qualify as "special levies" only if a majority of the City's voters specifically vote to authorize the creation of the special district or utility. For the purpose of determining the maximum levy, the original net tax capacity shall be used for all property which is both (a) placed in a tax increment financing district after 2010 and (b) being taxed on the basis of its original net tax capacity. The Charter was not given the correct date by staff to get these amendments on the ballot in 2011. The only alternative available to the Commission at that point was to submit them to council to be passed by ordinance. At the Public Hearing the council did not initiate a motion. For lack of a motion the amendments did not pass. Commission / Council Joint Meeting The Charter Commission and the City Council met on July 14, 2011 to discuss the Attorney bill in arrears and to update the Charter budget to a realistic amount as had been the precedent. It was to no avail. The 1500.00 budget was enacted in 1961 (State Statute) and has not been updated to reflect inflation. Page 2 of 3