David Brauer asks: 1. Is it appropriate for the council to cut the Park and Library boards' > local government aids (which the council apparently controls), > checkmating those two "independent" boards' ability to set their own tax > levy? I understand this is to enforce the 8% levy cap. But, is the > council undermining the spirit of these boards' independence? Should the > council merely police itself?
The park and library boards themselves have no direct responsibility (as I understand it) for the financial health of the city overall. It seems to me that some entity needs to be the stop gap - monitoring when spending is out of line with the city's ability to raise revenue. If the City Council and Mayor are responsible for the overall city budget, then they need to have the ability to review how the park and library boards are setting their tax policy. I would suspect that if these boards were moderating their spending to reflect the deficit times, then the Mayor and Council would not interfere. But, since they are not self-regulating, they have no choice but to reign them in. There is so much at stake right now for the city in relationship to the financial situtaion - protecting our bond rating, trying to create a more fiscally sound image to the legislature, trying to keep our property taxes from skyrocketing, maintaining services, and paying down the debt that has been racked up over the past decade. If in their best judgement they deemed it necessary to take extreme measures and trump the other jurisdictions, then so be it. I would guess this is why they ultimately have the ability to do so. I don't know the history of the governance system in Minneapolis, but it seems logical to give the entity that has ultimate responsibility for the city as a whole the ability to manage the boards when necessary. It would not be a very effective system to allow the independent boards to function without any checks or balances. Michelle Mensing Armatage ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Brauer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Mpls list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2002 6:28 PM Subject: [Mpls] Is the City Council playing fair? > I haven't reached any conclusions yet, but I hope there's a little more > chatter about the council's recent budget framework. > > A couple of things I'm wrestling with: > > > > 2. Is it fair to fold the library boards' referendum money within the > levy cap? The library board received specific voter approval for that > money - shouldn't it be counted on top of whatever cap is set? I mean, > maybe it means lowering the 8% limit to 7%, or keeping the 8% plus the > referendum money. > > Comments from all appreciated. > > David Brauer > King Field > > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
