Agenda - Charter Commission - 08/27/2020

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Heights collects a special revenue from their landfill agreement. All cities use state MSAS funds where possible. Table 2: Funding Matrix Property Taxes Special Assessments Capital Bonds Franchise Fees Other Mechanisms Coon Rapids X X Brooklyn Park X X X X Inver Grove Heights X X X X X Elk River X X White Bear Lake X X New Hope X X X Eagan X X Stillwater X X X Table 3: Funding Technique Usage Discussion: Technique Usage Summary Franchise Multiple cities reported that franchise fees are used to address local road funding Fees needs. Some cities used franchise fees as a supplement to other funding sources, while some use them as the primary source of funding. Most of the cities that have franchise fees enacted them in the last decade. Flat fee franchise fees are the most common. Cities' rationale for this funding mechanism was due to the way to disperse low burden equally among residents. The use of the flat fee also insured predictable costs for residents. Special Assessments were a common way for cities in our sample to allocate a portion of Assessments total costs of road funding to the properties that directly benefit from the improvements. The majority of cities in our sample are limiting the extent to which they use special assessments, so as not to overly burden property owners. On the other hand, two cities (Cities 7 and 8) use special assessments more aggressively and have comparatively high assessment rates. Cities rationale for special assessments was typically based on the benefits received principle. Another reason is that Minnesota state statute requires cities to assess at least 20% of the cost of a project when using public bonds. 11