Agenda - Council - 05/27/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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lapping with other statutes, and many confined to particular city classes though addressing a problem shared by those excluded. The City Code laws adopted at League request in 1973 and its amendments in 1974 were important steps toward a more rational and uniform set of laws for Minne- sota cities, and 1976 League-sponsored legislation added to the improvement of the statutory frame- work for cities by repealing numerous obsolete laws, eliminating inconsistencies, and making ex- plicit the applicability or non-applicability of specific laws to statutory and home rule charter cities. To continue this ongoing project of develop- ing a more rational statutory code for cities and to provide more uniform statutory patterns for related municipal laws, the League recommends that the staff, in cooperation with the legislative research agencies and other interested groups, prepare legislation revising and making into a consistent whole with as broad applicability as possible and without controversial changes, the various statutes relating to certain subject areas most in need of such revision, including the laws on city depositories, city support for music and bands, municipal advertising expenditures, local boaTds of health, and use of liquor store funds and municipal utility establishment and opera- tions. The League further recommends that when any such revisions have been approved by the League Board of Directors, they become part of the League legislative program. A study of existing laws indicates that almost without exception laws confined to cities of the second, third, or fourth class might more appro- priately have been broadened when adopted so as to apply to all three classes. The League, therefore, recommends to the legislature that the practice of confining legislation to any such class be discon- tinued and that, except where very special cir- cumstances require use of some more limiting criterion, future laws intended for cities other than first class cities be drawn to apply to all such cities. Regional development commissions One of the principal purposes of regional devel- opment commissions (RDCs) is to provide a mech- anism for intergovernmental cooperation within which local elected officials and the units they represent can engage in working and planning together. It is becoming increasingly clear that one of the most significant tests of the commis- sions' work is the extent to which they are in touch with their local constituency. Since RDC's develop regional plans, the League recommends that the review and update process for those plans be carefully reviewed by cities and other concerned local governments, even before the plans them- selves are considered. The under-representation on RDCs of the pop- ulation that resides in cities continues to be a prob- lem. To provide a better balance between urban and rural interests, the League recommends t~nat the Regional Development Commission Act be amended to provide that the largest city in each county, whatever its size, be represented on the commissions, in addition to the present member- ship. Furthermore, the League endorses explicit membership selection procedures and publicity about them which involve all concerned local units. In addition, the act should be amended to require that all substantive powers of a region- al development commission be exercised by the commission as a whole. Finally, the League believes that RDC reliance on the property tax should not be increased and that the state should continue its support of RDC operations at the present level, at the minimum. Uniform local government election day Minnesota has encouraged decision-making at the local level of government by providing flexi- bility in approaches to the diverse needs of cities. Under the Constitution, any city may adopt a home rule charter which, except for matters of overriding sta'te interest, removes that city from legislative control. The statutory City Code pro- vides optional forms of government for all other cities to take into account individual differences. The dates of city elections are set at any time by a home rule 'charter city or in November of odd or even years for statutory cities. The League strongly believes that decisions affecting only local units of government should be made at the local level unless an overriding state interest can be demonstrated. For this reason, the League remains opposed in principle to any uniform local government election day that precludes the present options. if the legislature determines that a uniform local government election day is justifiable, the following features should be considered. -16-