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<br />Councilmember Elvig stated as Chair of the Public Wades Committee, they face this conundrum <br />often. He appreciates the position of Councilmembers Dehen and Look. The Council has <br />deliberated this policy over and over, and the net result is the citizens will pay for the roads. The <br />money will either come in through the general fund or from the assessments. He has not paid for <br />a City assessment on his road since he moved into his home 13 years ago; he win be assessed <br />this year. But he does not pay a higher assessment for other roads through the general fund. <br />Councilmember Elvig stated there are so many roads that are coming up for improvements that it <br />was determined to keep the level in this fund at about $350,000. A lot of these roads were built <br />in the 1970's and 1980's, so they are now getting caught with a lot of maintenance coming due. <br />For people just moving into town with a brand new road if this maintenance were to be funded <br />through the general fund they would be paying higher taxes to pay for the older roads. No matter <br />what happens the citizens will pay, whether that is now via taxes, or half now and half when the <br />road is repaired. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated as of right now if the City were to pick up the total cost of these <br />improvements through the general fund the cost would be about $1 million to $1.2 million to add <br />into the budget. With this policy the cost is split 50/50. <br /> <br />City Engineer Jankowski indicated this year it is anticipated that approximately $381,000 will be <br />received from assessments. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look stated with regard to his property, which is a couple of acres on the <br />southeast portion of Ramsey, at the time he was assessed he paid around $2,000 per year in <br />taxes, and it was a 10% hit on their tax bill. If the whole City were to contribute it may be an <br />additional $10 to $15 added onto the tax bill every year, He agrees the money will be the same, <br />and the citizens will pay, but it is not that same hit and it doesn't involve public hearings and <br />assessments. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen stated he understands that ultimately the citizens win pay for these <br />improvements, but as a City they are claiming their tax rate is competitive within a certain <br />percentage, while they are not comparing themselves apples to apples. The comparison may be <br />that the citizens might be paying more in taxes. He understands the logistics of it is that the <br />citizens ultimately have to pay for this, but rather than hitting people with the assessments and <br />making them pay that chunk of change the policy should be looked at. He lives on Bowers <br />Drive, and they had an overlay done a couple of years ago. There will always be the issue with <br />the person that just got assessed. It will hurt a little whenever there is a change, but he believes <br />the change of policy should be made as soon as they can, while still going forward with the <br />improvements to the roads. He does not think the roads should suffer, but the policy should be <br />looked at and changed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen suggested the policy be included on a work session for further <br />discussion. <br /> <br />Councilmember Olson concurred. She stated at this point a lot of assumptions are being made <br />about what Ramsey citizens pay in taxes with assessments versus what other communities are <br />paying without assessments. In the first place, they do not know tbe breakdown of which cities <br /> <br />City Council / February 13, 2007 <br />Page 9 of 25 <br /> <br />pgg <br />