David writes to Lisa: This is interesting...are you saying there's no way the mayor and council can shift money from NRP to the general fund?
Mark Engebretson writes: I believe that is correct. NRP money comes from tax-increment financing (TIF) districts. If not for the districts, the money would flow to the general funds of the city, county and school district. The basic concept of setting up a TIF district is to allow cities to capture the property taxes and use for development, not for general fund expenditures. [TB] According to the City's budget document, General Fund spending is: ($ in thousands) 2003 2004 2005 2006 Police 98,892 102,848 106,962 111,240 Fire 44,181 45,948 47,786 49,698 Public Works 38,270 39,801 41,393 43,049 City Coord. Depts. 33,704 35,052 36,454 37,912 City Attny 4,642 4,828 5,021 5,222 City Clerk 4,118 4,283 4,454 4,632 Health/Fam Support 3,678 3,825 3,978 4,137 Other Depts 10,590 11,014 11,454 11,912 Future needed to balance (10,285) (14,281) (18,291) Total 238,075 237,313 243,221 249,511 I apologize if I mis-typed anything, I took the numbers from: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/city-coordinator/finance/servic es-budget/docs/budgetbook2003/Section5.pdf#page=2 The budget shows 38% of General Fund revenue coming from Local Government Aids, with other state aids bring the total up to 40% of the General Fund. With the current state budget situation, I doubt these aids will remain level through 2006 as the budget projects. This is the same budget document that promises to triple property taxes over the next decade. Just as the state will be rethinking the way it provides services, the City of Minneapolis (and a thousand other municipalities around the state) needs to rethink the way city services are provided. Do we really need a couple hundred municipalities (and a handful of counties) throughout the metro area, each providing the same services, each with its own police chief, fire chief, public works director, emergency dispatching system and the other administrative functions that go with such agencies? Perhaps as part of rethinking city government, the City of Minneapolis should start looking for partners to share this overhead with. Perhaps the City of Minneapolis should consider merging with some of the other municipalities in the metro area. Do boundaries drawn a century of more still make sense? The current model has some serious problems, something has got to change. Terrell Brown Shy quiet guy in Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis terrell at terrellbrown dot org _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
