Agenda - Council - 01/23/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I I I I I I Councilmember Connolly added that sometimes the County is unable to view the property and, therefore, makes assumptions. W'illie Wirnmer, 8900 - 167t}' Lane NW, Ramsey, asked about levies, which bls. Lund explained. Sandy Bertzyk, 6001 - 146"' Avenue NW, Ramsey, stated that she lmows a lady who lives in Andover and her taxes did not go up and she £elt it is because they allow more houses to be built so there are more to share the taxes. She wondered why Ramsey is only allowing 50 houses to be built and also why Anoka County is not making Andover's value go up to within 95% of the sale value. Mayor Gm-nec talked about the development moratorium. Ms. Bertzyk recollected a development plan presented by Puke which would have brought in $400,000, and suggested that Council should keep that in mind. She inquired about tax capacity rate, which Ms. Lund explained. Ms. Bertzyk asked if when the market vakte goes down, will her value and taxes go down too. Councihnember Hendriksen responded that in the year houses are built, the City collects plan check fees, etc., however, there is a shortfall generated by each residential unit and that goes on forever. That shortfall is subsidized by commercial, if we add several hundred houses, the shortfall will be multiplied. The City is trying to build up commercial so it can take care of that shortfall. He added that residential units in Minnesota do not pay a fair share of taxes. Ms. Bertzyk stated that some businesses come in under something special where they do not have to pay for taxes for five years. Councih'nember Hendriksen replied that is Tax .h'xcrement Financing and explained how it works. Ms. Bertzyk referred to the Chamber magazine's description of Ramsey and stated that she does not feet that we are tax stable right now. She asked for assurance this will not happen next yem'. I '1 I 1 I I I Jim Wendt', 8500 - 173~'d Avenue NW, Ramsey, mentioned the young family gaining equity in their home but they cannot afford to stay there because wages are not as high. We have a system that is not working well. Some land is made more valuable in certain areas of the City. If wages and income kept going up as well, that would be fine. Councih'nember Anderson explained comparable sales and the fact that that is what the property value is based on. Mr. Wendt reiterated that equity is good, but you carmot eat it and you cannot spend it. These big jumps in valuations should be done in increments. Peter Stanius, 15781 Azurite Court NW, Ramsey, stated that he just moved to Ramsey and the tax increase is difficult to handle, lie noted that the budget is going up about $360,000 fi'om last year and three items - Police, Fire and Building Inspection takes up about $300,000. He suggested maybe some of these increases should be spread out over a couple of years: City Council Budget Public Hearing (Truth in Taxation) - December 4, 2000 Page 3 or' $ -37-