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programs is increasingly falling on cities and <br />their property taxpayers. In areas where the <br />school district is significantly larger than the <br />city, the burden of funding these programs is <br />falling disproportionately on city taxpayers <br />while the programs benefit the entire school <br />district. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports a statutory increase in the <br />community education revenue <br />authorization for school districts. <br />Increasing the amount of the community <br />service revenue available to school <br />districts would provide a steady source of <br />revenue, which would be assessed against <br />all properties in the school district, not <br />just against properties in the city. <br />FF -32. Street Reconstruction Bond <br />Approval <br />Issue: Under Minnesota law, financing the <br />maintenance of streets can be a challenge for <br />city councils. Minn. Stat. § 475.58 subd. 3b <br />authorizes a city council, by unanimous <br />vote, to approve the issuance of bonds to <br />finance street reconstruction or bituminous <br />overlays without voter approval. The <br />unanimous council approval requirement is <br />further subject to a reverse referendum <br />process whereby a number equal to five <br />percent of those voting in the last municipal <br />general election can petition for a <br />referendum to approve the issuance of the <br />bonds. <br />Response: Street maintenance is one of <br />the essential functions of cities in <br />Minnesota. The laws governing issuance <br />of bonds to maintain streets should be <br />amended to allow the approval of the <br />bonds by a simple majority of the council. <br />The existing reverse referendum process <br />assures that taxpayers could trigger a <br />referendum on the issuance of bonds if <br />they can meet the five percent petition <br />threshold. <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2016 City Policies Page 112 <br />