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of Ramsey. In the Ramsey Resident it was stated that the City owns the right of way for utilities, <br />but actually the citizens own the right of way. <br /> <br />Finance Officer Lund explained that the $525,000 is part of the overall State cut and the City has <br />to find a way to stay whole. <br /> <br />Mr. Reimann replied that it is the Council's responsibility to make the cuts. <br /> <br />Councilmember Cook replied that they have made cuts, but the fact is if they are going to cut <br />anymore it has to come out of staffing. <br /> <br />Mr. Reimann replied that if the Council has to make cuts it is on the City's shoulder and it should <br />not be put back on the citizens of Ramsey. <br /> <br />Leon Fisher, 15113 Nowthen Boulevard NW, Ramsey, stated that he has a small business in <br />another City and a year ago he had 100 employees and now he is down to 25. His electric bill is <br />over $10,000 so by adding the fee it could mean having to cut someone's job for some business <br />owners during these difficult times. He felt that the City had a long way to go before they started <br />passing the burden back to the citizens of Ramsey. Mr. Fisher emphasized that this was not the <br />time for tax increases. Everyone is facing cutbacks and for the City to be creating a new tax <br />program is not acceptable. He felt that the franchise fee was a "dirty tax" because most people <br />don't know about it. He stated that the Council needed to consider what the economic impact <br />will be on the small businesses in the City of Ramsey. <br /> <br />John Sebeka, 6840 - 167th Avenue NW, Ramsey, stated that additional taxes have been thrown <br />on the residents, which is not fair. When he moved out to the City there were 2,000 people and <br />then they needed more houses and businesses to increase the tax base and now it sounds like the <br />City is poor. The huge tax base should be able to cover the loss. He inquired if the City will be <br />receiving any additional funding from the State after 2004. <br /> <br />Finance Officer Lund explained that with levy limits in place, the more tax base the City has <br />come in, the more the property taxes are reduced. The City is not able to increase the levy <br />because there are more people in the City. <br /> <br />Councilmember Cook stated that the problem is that the City is not able to increase their levy <br />limit so they have to find other ways to pay for services. <br /> <br />Mr. Sebeka replied that if the Council has researched every option and the only option is a <br />franchise fee then I guess they have no options. <br /> <br />Ron Parry, 16621 Dolomite Street NW, Ramsey, stated that they are still paying taxes from the <br />Spanish American War so there is no guarantee that the tax will go away anytime soon. He <br />questioned what they were basing the 4.5 percent on. <br /> <br />City Council/June 24, 2003 <br />Page 10 of 37 <br /> <br /> <br />