Minutes - 2021/12/13 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council December 13, 2021 Regular Meeting Page 9 City Attorney Riggs then commented on the process that would have to be followed in order to amend the City Charter per State Statute. He indicated this provision allows the Council to adopt an Ordinance to amend the Charter noting a public hearing would have to be held. He reported the vote to approve the Ordinance would have to be unanimous (5-0). Russ Warren, 8044 Greenwood Drive, explained he was the Chair of the Charter Commission. He offered for collective consideration, the work product from the Charter Commission. He commented further on the joint conversations he had with the City Council regarding the levy cap noting he understood this was the most important issue. He discussed how the current levy limits were not keeping up with CPI and the City’s expenditures. He reviewed the proposed language change noting the City could now have a levy increase of up to 6.5%. He explained the Charter Commission recommends approval of this new language. Mayor Mueller opened the public hearing at 8:13 p.m. Valerie Amundsen, 3048 Woodale Drive, discussed how the proposed language would impact Mounds View taxpayers. She encouraged the Council to let the residents vote on this issue. She commented on the taxes being paid by residents from Mounds View, North Oaks, Arden Hills, Shoreview and New Brighton for a $345,000 valued home. She noted Mounds View was paying the highest amount when compared to each City. She discussed how this amount would surge over the next five years if the language change were approved. She understood this was a complicated issue, but feared if the language amendment were approved, residents would not want to move into Mounds View due to high taxes. Brian Amundsen, 3048 Woodale Drive, stated this Ordinance cannot and should not be acted on this evening. He reported the Ordinance cannot be acted on this evening because it was being introduced this evening. He explained the City’s Charter requires Ordinances to be introduced and then 14 days prior to action being taken. He indicated the Ordinance should not be acted on because it was a Council proposal and did not originate with the Charter Commission. Rather the matter originated from the Council and the Charter Commission Chair brought this matter to the Commission in January. He stated at a joint meeting in June the Council and Charter Commission rejected the three amendments suggested by the Charter Commission and instead supported Fridley’s charter language. He commented since July staff has worked with the Council to draft language and this language was presented to the Charter Commission by the City Attorney. He noted all of these proposals for this amendment were driven by the City Council. He discussed the Minnesota State Statute method for approving an Ordinance and reiterated that the point of origin for this Ordinance was the City Council. He directed the Council to the Statute staff included in the packet reporting this issue must go to the voters and should not be approved by Ordinance. He encouraged the Council to follow both the spirit and letter of the law and allow voters to vote on this matter in November of 2022. Bob King, 7408 Silver Lake Road, indicated the Charter was put in place before the existing residents of Mounds View ever lived in the community. He stated he could care less what happened in 1979. He reported levies like the one for the police department was not something that could be controlled by the City. Rather, these matters were voted on by the citizens stating