Agenda - Charter Commission - 11/17/2021

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Commissioner Anderson stated that the City had some difficulty gathering information from some cities as they did not want to provide their positions but noted that the cities were then listed on the next page. City Administrator Ulrich provided additional background information, noting that the students and the City received permission from the cities to share their names in the report. Chairperson Field commented that this appears to be a limited glimpse and while the study says that some trends favor franchise fees, he was unable to determine the support for that. He commented that the report does not offer enough information to support for or against franchise fees and noted that additional information would be needed. Commissioner Fuhreck commented that any unbiased reading of the report did not sway one way or another towards or against franchise fees. Commissioner Leistico stated that she believed that the report was in favor of franchise fees, as she read it. Chairperson Field stated that the purpose of the report was to find out what other communities are doing to fund their roads and not whether or not to support franchise fees specifically. He stated that the Committee also wanted feedback on how many increases have occurred for cities that implemented franchise fees. He stated that not all the questions were well answered by the report. He read aloud the proposed language from the motion made at the February 2019 meeting. He stated that language could potentially limit the allowed amount of a franchise fee but was unsure of the exact amount that would be allowed. Commissioner Deemer stated that it is his interpretation that the proposed language would take away from the intent of how the City would like to use the franchise fee. He explained that there are different utilities that have franchise fees and that could cause a great deal of inequality, as not everyone has gas service or cable service. Commissioner Sivertson stated that the motion would limit the allowed use of franchise fees to cover the cost of a utility service bringing the service to the customer, rather than allowing a municipality to raise additional funds through that source. Chairperson Field stated that one criticism of franchise fees is that they are considered regressive. He noted that would be a political decision of the Council. He stated that the consideration of the Charter Commission is that there is no limit on the amount of a franchise fee. He stated that even if set by the City Council at a certain amount, a future Council could increase that amount. City Administrator Ulrich stated that currently there is no levy limit on the property tax levy. Chairperson Field stated that he believed that Ramsey attempts to promote itself for not using the full taxable levy. Charter Commission/ August 27, 2020 Page 5 of 11