Agenda - Council - 11/15/1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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TAXES We have been employed for three (3) years by Anoka County School District #11, Coon Rapids, Blaine and other communities to maintain the integrity of the Fiscal Disparity legislation. There has been tremendous pressure in the last sessions to substantially modify this legislation or eliminate it completely. That pressure will continue. If the northern suburbs do not aggressively defend their position on this issue, several million dollars per year may be lost in the northern suburbs as a result. It will be important to monitor and lobby any proposed changes in the tax bill in the coming session. There are a number of ways the tax bill could be improved to substantially lessen the adverse impact on the northern suburbs. For example, a change in the tax formula from households to population would help the northern communities. These are issues that will confront us in the 1989 session. The firm of Larkin, Hoffman, Daiy & Lindgren, Ltd., is uniquely qualified to represent the Cities before the legislature. To be effective, it is necessary to further develop the positions that the Cities wish to take and begin conveying these positions to our legislative delegation prior to the start of the session. The earlier %his is done, the better, since it is very difficult to mobilize issue positions after the session starts. During the session we would be operating full time with our legislative ~eam pursuing the Cities' iegis!a~ive agenda. The firm would aid the Cities in becoming a strong voice in the development of policy issues in the future. The Cities' issues are too important to permit isolated lobbying. The lobbyist's response to proposed amendments must be based upon an accurate assessmen5 of the imoac5 on ~he entire agenda, not simply on the ==~ of a sinc!e bill. ~.~oreover, in the real world, the relative importance of successfully lobbying an individual bill depends upon the progress of the remaining bills. Thus, the Firm will operate with a full understanding of these issues and a commitment to improvement. B. APproach Larkin, Hoffman, Daly & Lindgren, Ltd., through the experience and expertise of its a~torneys and other _orofessiona!=,_ possesses %he necessarv~ undersuandinc~ of =~==~e significant policy matters and historical deve!opmen~s so !mportann no effec%ive representation of the area. As ssated previously we would propose to work c!oseiv winh the Ci~ies and s~ff ~o determine ~he aooroDriat= ~evei of