09-12-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL MINUTES September 12, 2011 APPROVED 225 The council reviewed the proposed amendments to Section 1.04 and 1.05. City attorney Langel noted ' 226 that the only new language (different from existing state law) relates to informing residents. A 227 council member noted that adding language to the charter would mean that the city may end up 228 needing to amend the charter if state law changes. The city attorney suggested that it is never a good 229 idea to regurgitate state law in a document such as the City Charter. City Attorney Langel pointed 230 out that, while charter amendments always get reviewed by the charter commission, ballot language 231 doesn't so that would be a new concept. 232 233 The mayor recalled that within the past year the city council and the charter commission held a joint 234 meeting and there was great hope for progress through that process. At that meeting, a suggestion 235 was brought forward to set up a joint side group made up of council members and charter 236 commissioners and, if that had happened and was functioning, that could have meant a better 237 understanding of these amendments coming forward. Unfortunately at that joint meeting there was an 238 explosion of emotion and the good idea didn't happen. He still believes that it could happen and that 239 it would result in some good accomplishments. 240 241 i. Ordinance No. 17-11, Amending the City Charter by adding a new Section 1.04 and 1.05 242 243 The mayor called for a motion on Item 3Ai, First Reading of Ordinance No. 17-11. The item failed 244 for lack of a motion. 245 246 ii. Ordinance No. 18-11, Amending the City Charter by adding a new Section 7.13 regarding :47 tax cap 248 249 The mayor read the proposed amendment and noted that he is not opposed to the idea of a tax cap but 250 he sees there are issues with the language proposed. It concerns him that the proposal would actually 251 allow the council to add a $1 million to the tax levy this year. The down economy has been difficult 252 for the tax situation but the council has acted to keep taxes down. In the area of special taxing 253 districts, he sees that there are situations where it occurs through an outside request; having a vote on 254 everything reminds him of California and that isn't Lino Lakes. The city has a representative republic 255 form of government whereby people are voted into office to make decisions on behalf of the public. 256 He wishes the council would have had the opportunity to work with the commission on the matter. 257 258 A council member noted that there has been good information offered in a lot of areas. He's been on 259 the council for ten years and understands that the budget process is complicated and he pointed out 260 that it impacts him as a property taxpayer also. The citizens have a good form of representation and it 261 is called the election. He knows that people will come to the voting booth and decide if they are 262 getting the value they want from their tax dollar. 263 264 Other council members concurred that the voting process works and that an automatic taxing system 265 isn't needed. They expressed the desire to continue working with the Charter Commission in a joint 266 fashion. 267 268 The mayor called for a motion on Item 3Aii, First Reading of Ordinance No. 18-11. The item failed .69 for lack of a motion. 6