Agenda - Council Work Session - 01/25/2022

Home

The Ramsey City Council is in support of the Fiscal Disparities program. The Ramsey City Council opposes future diversion from the Fiscal Disparities Program to fund programs or projects that would contradict the purpose of the program. The City does not support efforts to exempt Ramsey (or Anoka County) from any future Fiscal Disparity program amendment discussions. Outcome • No changes were made to the LGA funding formula in 2021. • The City should consider working with legislators to determine if there is an opportunity to revise the LGA formula in 2022 to provide greater resources to developing suburbs. The state is currently projecting a record budget surplus which could provide a point of discussion. • A couple of LGA bills were introduced that may have impacted Ramsey, but failed to become law: • LGA adjusted for unpaid local assistance costs HF 1052/SF 749 (Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, and Sen. Bill Weber, R-Luverne) would have allowed cities that have not been reimbursed by another city for local assistance costs to submit an application for reimbursement through a reduction in the LGA of the recipient city. • LGA minimum distribution HF 1096/SF 1238 (Rep. Jerry Hertaus, R-Greenfield, and Sen. David Osmek, R-Mound) would have provided for a minimum per capita LGA amount for all cities that otherwise would receive no LGA, and increased the LGA appropriation to cover the additional amount. Policy Priority: Governor's Executive powers and Local Control Council members have expressed concern for the well-being of local business and the ability of local government (or local State Legislators) to have representation in decisions that affect the local economy and businesses. The City is supportive of legislation that strengthens the ability of locally - elected officials to determine issues of local control. League of Minnesota Cities Statement on local control: The increasingly complex and costly requirements necessary for cities to provide services to their citizens would benefit from a strong partnership between federal, state and local governments. This partnership should be based upon a shared vision for Minnesota and should allow individual communities to tailor that vision to the unique needs of their citizens without mandates and policy restrictions imposed by state and federal policy makers. The state should recognize that local governments, of all sizes, are often the first to identify problems and inventive solutions to solve them, and should encourage further innovation by increasing local control. The state should not enact initiatives that erode the fundamental principle of local control in cities across Minnesota. Outcome • Comprehensive review of COVID-19 response First Special Session Chapter 12 (HF 12/SF 2*) is the omnibus state government finance and policy bill. Article 2, section 21 is a 2021 Session Law that requests the legislative auditor to conduct a special review of the state's response to 2020 City of Ramsey Legislative Platform Page 8 of 9