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Issue: Cities are often laboratories for <br />determining public policy approaches to the <br />challenges that face citizens. Success in <br />providing for the basic needs of a functional <br />society is rooted in local control to <br />determine how best to respond to the ever - <br />changing needs of a citizenry. Because city <br />government most directly impacts the lives <br />of people, and representative democracy <br />ensures that locally elected officials are held <br />accountable for their decisions through local <br />elections, local governments must have <br />sufficient authority and flexibility to meet <br />the challenges of governing and providing <br />citizens with public services. <br />Response: The increasingly complex and <br />costly requirements necessary for cities to <br />provide services to their citizens would <br />benefit from a strong partnership <br />between federal, state and local <br />governments. This partnership should be <br />based upon a shared vision for Minnesota <br />and should allow individual communities <br />to tailor that vision to the unique needs of <br />their citizens without mandates and <br />policy restrictions imposed by state and <br />federal policy makers. The state should <br />recognize that local governments, of all <br />sizes, are often the first to identify <br />problems and inventive solutions to solve <br />them, and should encourage further <br />innovation by increasing local control. <br />The state should not enact initiatives that <br />erode the fundamental principle of local <br />control in cities across Minnesota. <br />SD-2. Unfunded Mandates <br />Issue: Federal and state mandated programs <br />substitute the judgment of Congress, the <br />president, the Minnesota Legislature, and <br />the governor for local budget priorities. <br />IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY <br />SD-1. Local Control These mandates force cities to reduce <br />funding for other basic services or to <br />increase taxes and service charges. <br />Response: <br />a) Existing unfunded mandates should <br />be reviewed and modified, or repealed <br />where possible. <br />b) No additional statewide mandates <br />should be enacted unless full funding <br />for the mandate is provided by the <br />level of government imposing it or a <br />permanent stable revenue source is <br />established. <br />c) Cities should not be forced to comply <br />with unfunded mandates. <br />d) Cities should be given the greatest <br />flexibility possible in implementing <br />mandates to ensure their cost is <br />minimized. <br />e) The legislative government redesign <br />groups created in 2010 should <br />consider the various unfunded <br />mandates as they look at local <br />government reform and redesign and <br />make recommendations for the next <br />session. <br />SD-3. Local Approval of Special <br />Laws <br />Issue: The Minnesota Constitution prohibits <br />special legislation except for certain special <br />laws relating to local government. It <br />provides that a special law must name the <br />affected local unit of government and is <br />effective only after approval by the local <br />government unit, unless general state law <br />provides otherwise. Under state statute, a <br />special law is not effective unless approved <br />by the affected local unit of government, <br />except under limited circumstances. <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2018 City Policies Page 1 <br />