Agenda - Council - 01/13/1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . ....... . plcx and result in a more equitable distribu- tion of the revenues derived from such an in- dustry:' Subsequently, the Citizens League pub- lished a report with recommendations that were generally consistent with .my thoughts. The League specifically adopted a proposal which was advanced by Mr. Preeshl that would allow for a porrion 'of the growth of comm~r- cial-industrial property tax base t9 be shared among units of government. The Citizens League committee had considered, but re- jeqcd more radical approaches such as thecrea- . tion of a metropolitan taxing district, which would impose a uniform.ia}Conallproperty amI then distribute 'the reverlUes back to l()[al ,. units .ofgo\'ern ment.This.lIlasleared beca~se . In;Jny people did not want to"vest such atithoi~'- .- _.." . . .. ityin any sort of regional government.)-/ ;. It ,\'as April 19Q9before I'\"asa'ble to'h-ave a bill drafted following the o~ltlines of theCi_tl~' zens League recommendations. _ Howeve_r;. I had been chairing..~ subcommittee of-th~- House ~Ietropolitan and Urban Affairs Com- mittee on fiscal disparities. ~y thetime the bill was introduced, we were ready to take action, which we did. promptly. The bill received quick' approval-from the full committee and got to the floor of the House'in early :May:It was passed overwhelmingly 1l:5--14. but time ran out in our 120~ay~session before the Sen- . ate could hold '! hearing~ During the 1969.....:71 . interim. we continued to hold hearings on the bill. It was reintroduced in :]971 and a~in (:) passed the House by a- substantial margin (83- 39) and the Senate as:well. although the'vote in the Senate was very dose (34"':::H). . OBJECTIONS There were many points of debate at various stages along the way. Some critics feared -that the bill would be unfair to those communities which have been phnning for commercial- industrial development in their communities., However, it is well known that you do not guar- antee commercial or industrial complexes simply by zoning land for such purposes. De- pending upon where the land is located. it may stand vacant for m;lIl) years. In fact. it never " . ~\ URBAN FISCAL DISPARITY 103 may be developed for the purpose for which it is zoned. Our bill is like an insurance policy for all local govern- ments. It says to a community that no matter where growth occurs in the area. you will get a share of it. The past policy of win- ner-take-all is more of a gamble. No one really knows where and in what amounts new com- mercial-industrial growth will take place. In contrast to the old system in which a. com- . munity either reaps the total benefit or !to,-: benefit at al.l. our plan g\l:lrantees at least som~-:'< benefit to ever:yone.. . ...: . - .. L=-:...:;:.... ,'0, _._:, . . Incr~asingly we are seeing the major com~ mercial and industrial areas concentrated in a few' communities. Only a few communities. of course. would benefit from the comme'rcial- industrial growth of such complexes without the base sharing we have accomplished in the Twin Cities area. Other critics said that this bill would :be unfair to those newly emerging communities on the fringe of the metropolitan area which aTe1llost likely to get the laX base in the future and would have to share it. but the bill doesn't take away revenue from those communities that already have tax-base'-, _ This concern may well be legitimate at: a_ ,. given' point in time. But it is important. that this bill be looked at over a long period. It sort of evens out the peaks and valleys. giving help to communities in their growth cycles.. when they need the most help. In their earliest . stage. for example. when they are. predom- inantly residential communities-not yet ma~ . ture enough to have sub~tantial commercial- industrial development"':'they will receive a part of the commercial.industrial tax base throughout the area to help them finance the services they need at the beginning. Later when they reach mat~rity. they may be "exporters" for a few years helping out others. In later stages when they go through a rebuilding. process. when valuations go down, they "may again receive assistance from the area. Thus.