Agenda - Council - 10/28/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Thrttmus sta~ed that he has been living in Ramsey for eight years and when he first started receiving the Ra~sey Resident it provided good information and now it does not seem to include some of the most!important information. The Council no}ed that information regarding franchise fees was included in the Ramsey Resident. ~ Councilmember ~lvig stated the Council is still working on the budget and still has a lot of work to do and still ha~ to consider some cuts. Some measures have been taken to reduce the amount the City needs tcb~ collect in franchise fees and the Council is still trying to be creative to find ways to avoid lCving to implement franchise fees at all. No one on the Council wants to implement frm~cl'iise fees, but they may not have any other options. Councilmember Kurak noted that the City Council will be reviewing the franchise fee every six months. Ed Hamilton, 66!15 Highway #10 NWl Ra~sey, stated that he has lived in Ramsey since 1954' and he was opp~ed to the franchi.se fee. He felt that the City should cut down on their budget instead of addin~more fees. His income is limited and adding another fee makes it very difficult for senior citizen~. Councilmember ~lvig stated that the good news is that property values are going to go up 12 percent and property taxes and school levies will both go down this year. Councilmember gimmerman stated that by going to a fiat meter fee it shifts more of the burden on the residential property owners, which he feels was a flaw because it should be based on usage. There is qtlso no guarantee that the fee will go to a dedicated fund for things such as hiring two new police o~ficers. Councilmember Cook replied that changing to a flat fee from a percentage will not increase the burden on the r~idential properties. Under the percentage option it would have cost residents $74 a year on a flat fee it will be $72 a year. When the City collects the fee it will go into the general fund an~ the Council will decide where that money goes. The City is in this situation because the Stat~ took over $400,000 from the City and the City cannot operate with $400,000 less than what th_~y had last year. Councilmember ~;troml'nen stated that she agreed that a percentage may be more-equitable based on usage, but wi~ a flat fee the amount does not increase as gas and electric rates increase, which would thm~ resul! in the City collecting more money than what is needed to offset what the City lost. Councihnember ~earson stated that with the fiat fee people will know'exactly what they will have to pay each.: month. The Council is only doing what they have to do to try and balance the budget. City Council/October 14, 2003 Page 13 of 30 -(55-