Agenda - Council - 01/24/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Municipal Revenue & Taxation 1-D Budget and Financial Reporting Requirements State laws require cities to prepare and submit or publish numerous budget and financial reports. These requirements often add significant costs to cities, and many requirements often result in duplication. Any additional reporting requirements should have a clearly defined statement of public purpose and need that is not currently covered under existing reporting requirements and be weighed to balance the need for additional information with the costs to cities of compiling and submitting this information. In light of the numerous existing reporting requirements, Metro Cities supports reducing the number of mandated requirements. Metro Cities supports efforts to consolidate municipal government financial reporting requirements in the Office of the State Auditor, including an electronic submission alternative to any remaining paper filing requirements, and to authorize the use of web publication where newspaper publication is currently required. 1-E Local Government Aid (LGA) Metro Cities supports Local Government Aid (LGA) as a means of ensuring that all cities are able to provide basic public services without over-burdening the property tax. Metro Cities' policies also recognize that our state's prosperity and vitality depend significantly upon the strength of the metropolitan region. Metro Cities supports the 2013 modifications to the LGA program that will help better address the needs of cities across the state, and those of metro cities in their support of the state's economic growth. To ensure an adequate appropriation level for the program, Metro Cities supports increasing the LGA appropriation to at least its 2003 funding level, at which time the appropriation was originally set by the Legislature at $586.8 million. Metro Cities also supports adjusting the LGA appropriation for inflation and population growth in future years, to assure that the program can continue to meet cities' needs and move toward a more geographically equitable distribution as intended under the new structure. Metro Cities supports formula-based allocations for increases to the LGA appropriation. Metro Cities strongly opposes freezes of the LGA appropriation, or reductions of LGA for the purpose of balancing state budget deficits. Metro Cities also opposes artificial limits or reductions that single out specific communities. 2017 Legislative Policies 3