Minutes - Council - 12/06/2004 - Truth in Taxation

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Mr. Ben Deemer, 14501 Sunfish Lake Boulevard, stated he did not have any problems with the budget but he does have a problem with his property that the City created. He stated every year he has to go to the County because his lot is considered two lots and taxed as two even though it is one lot. He wondered what needed to happen to have it changed back to one lot. Mayor Gamec thought he should bring this information to the Board of Review in April and he could see the County before then regarding this. Mr. Vince Brytowski, 16391 Yttrium Street NW, stated he received information regarding an additional levy besides what he received information on. Ms. Lund stated all the information is included in his information and cannot be changed. She stated all of the numbers are the same. Mr. Brytowski stated he did not disagree with the need for more police officers or fixing the streets. He stated he did have questions about some of the numbers. He stated the capacity rate went from 17% to 39.7% in ten years. He thought this was a huge jump and wondered where all of the money has gone. He thought when :showing the amounts each resident pays to the City per month should include all the costs which would accurately reflect the total amount paid to the City. Page 20 goes back to the doubling of the tax rate. In four years it went up over fifty percent which is a large increase: On page 18, general fund taxes, some of the other things they have lost in State Aid were up OVer 100 percent. He thought this was a lot and wondered where all the money has gone. The population 0nly increased by thirty percent and he wondered if the developers have not paid their faii' costs and Should pay more. Mayor Gamec stated the developer paYs for the entire street going into and within their development including the seal coating. Councihnember Cook stated they can only pass on charges to developers that they will benefit from. He stated the residents' benefit from:administration not the developer. He stated some of the increase was from property increases that they could not levy for because of levy freezes. Ms. Lund stated the majority of the budget applies to personnel, which is seventy percent so as the City grows, they need to increase personnel and in studies they are still short on personnel in regard to other cities their size. Mayor Gamec stated in comparing Ramsey with other cities, the other cities are rum~ing with thirty percent more personnel. He stated they have also had some organizations help them out within the City which has helped. The Police and Fire Departments have worked closely together and last year they did not hire a ~police officer even when they needed it and this year they are only adding one. He stated the City is very well run with the personnel they have. He stated there is a lot of job sharing and they are involved in a lot of things that directly benefit the residents. City Council Truth in Taxation/December 6, 2004 Page 3 of 4