Minutes - Council - 02/20/1975 - Special

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SP~IAL CII~ OF R~v, sE~ COUNCIL Febnmr~ 20~ 1~7~ The meeting wax called to .order at 5:30 pomo by the Mayor, Mr. Cox. Present' were Mr. ~orham,, Mr. Reimann and Mrs, Oliphant, Mr. Mickelson' was on vac&tion in Hawaii. Mr. Steffens was also present. Mr. 3teffens had a memorandum, .on a reco~aended.policy on Selected Legislative Matters. Mr. Gorham,~oved we adopt recommendation 1 a) - That the City Council. urge inte~duction,--and: passage, of: legislation: which would establish current population aa the basis for distribution of Local ~over~aent Aids. Seconded by Mrs. Oliphant .. .' :Motion car- tied unanimously. M~.s. Oliphant moved we reco~aend adoption of 1 b) The present 5% limit on increases in' ~arket. value, of homes creates .inequities between individ;;~ proper~y owners: Within. the. sxae:co~ty and also creates inequitieS.between districts, such as. the school dis- trict, county, metro, etc, As a result, of' inflation, assessors in Anoka County are using ~midelines-based on sales ratios which result in actual-market value increases since-the limit, was imposed of between 20% and 30%,'including .proposed. 1975 changes. The limit per year ~e~ults in taxable value increases of only 15% and the limit does not aP,~V tg~ ~ew c~mstr~ctAon~[: Ust~.~actua! cases .in the City of Ra~ey this law~ can.result in a tax. difference be- tween identical market: value homes .in excess: of $200.00 per year, depending on when the ho~e was ~constructed," This inequity: should be removed. Further, co~aunities within the school ,district and the County which have substantial :numbers of new homes constructed are paying more than their share of taxes because of the arbitrary limitation on existing homes but not on new construction. It should be noted that re.oval .of the limit ~ithout some limita- ,tion on the amount of tax in. ease, will also create problems which should be considered in drafting changes in the current system. Removal of the 5% limitation ,inequity should be staged so that individual hardships do not occur during the' transition: back to a system based on real market, value. That the. City council support legislation ,that ~ould remove the current 5% li~i~ation on in- creases in ~bXe value of property, provided tha~ such legis- lation also li~it the resulting increase on individual.properties. Seconded by Mr. Gotham. ~otion carried .unanimously. c~ Reimann moved we adopt recommendation lc) That the City Coun- support legislative and congressional appropriations for local government aid and revenue sharing at an.~increased level to reflect an appropriate sharing in increased .costs resulting.from inflation. Mr. Gorham seconded the ~otion. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Gotham-~oved we. adopt the recow~_endation under B, item 2, That the City Council request its legislators to oppose legislation