Agenda Packets - 1989/07/24 - Laserfiche WebLink

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� ...Pf26 io 1 '1 TO: Mayor 6 Council FROM: Don Brager, Finance Director -Treasurer DATE: July 20, 19e9 SUBJECT: CERTIFICATION OF PRELIMINAR'L 1990 PROPERTY TAX LEVY TO RAMSEY COUNTY Current Truth-ln-Taxeti.on legislation requires a City to certify its preliminary levy to the County no later than August I. The County has until August 8 to calculate preliminary tax capacity rates based upon the preliminary levy and to inform the City of their calculation. On or before August 15 a city must certify its final proposed levy to the County.' Final levies may not exceed this amount. The County is then required to mail notices to each taxpayer with proposed taxes. Due to the Governor's veto of the 1989 tax bill and the State Department of Revenue's guidelines for compliance with Truth -In -Taxation it is not expected that counties will make calculations of proposed taxes nor will they mail notices to taxpayers. A city must place a newspaper advertisement of proposed property taxes and the time and date of a public hearing on the property tax levy and proposed budget no later than September 15. The hearing must be held after September 15 and before October 25. Final levies must be certified by October 25. The above is the present Truth -In -Taxation Law. The vetoed 1989 tax bill contained substantial modifications to it. Should a tax bill be passed this fall it is highly likely that it will contain modifications to Truth -In -Taxation. as some provisions of the present law are unworkable. One provision that is unworkable is determining a preliminary and a final proposed levy on August 1 and August 15. The State Department of Revenue under current tax law does not provide cities with levy limit calculations until August 15. Staff and Councils thus do not have sufficient time to analyze their limit and develop a budget and a tax levy within the same day that the information on levy limits are received. An estimate of the City's levy limit has been prepared using available information. Based upon current law (1988 tax bill) our estimated 1990 levy limit would be 01,001,647. This estimate assumes no increase in population and/or household growth. Estimated population and/or household growth is a factor in the calculation of levy limits. These estimates have not yet been released from the Metropolitan Council which provides estimates for metro area cities. A review of building permits leads staff to conclude that this is not significant for the City. Another variable is Local Government Aid (LGA). A change in the amount of LGA directly affects the City's levy limit. Under the vetoed tax ;ill the City's LGA would have increased and caused our levy limit to be s28,367 lower than under current law.