Wendy Wulff writes: > So what is the purpose of LGA? The state distributes specific aid for > things like police, fire, streets, pensions, health and human services, and > affordable housing - so is LGA really about providing basic services or > something else? Whether you are worried about losing your piece of the pie > or not - it is still valid to ask the question - what is the goal of LGA, > and is it meeting that goal?
Wendy - first, thanks very much for bringing a thoughtful suburban perspective to the forum. While we have other members who do this, too, it helps add "diversity" into our local debate. I do not have exact numbers, but I have heard the League of Cities folks claim that while there is some state support for the specific functions you mention, it is not strictly based on need and not "full funding" of the disparities. (Of course, "full funding" is often a term of art.) However, one of the papers I edit (Skyway News), has a story on LGA coming out on Monday. One interesting fact is that even under what may be an antiquated LGA formula, Minneapolis's "gain" is capped - because it and St. Paul would take so much of the pot if it wasn't. My point is that while the formula is old, legislators have put in place a fairly blunt mechanism to limit our city's benefit under it. And the 1992 "grandfather clause" - which set a floor on cities' LGA receipts - was probably not done for Minneapolis, but for a ton of smaller cities (some of them suburban, I suspect) that may have less current need than Minneapolis does. I'm not saying the formula shouldn't be re-done. I do suspect that's a result of our former, now dissipated, political clout at the legislature. However, I'm always suspicious of re-writing a formula at the same time you're trying to cut the result. Changing two variables makes it easier to hide tricks. I would hope the legislature would re-write the formula based on some rational basis (and by the way, I do not consider Pat Awada's basis - no parks, libraries, etc. - to be rational), THEN figure out the funding level. We'll see. Anyway, thanks again for the thoughtful perspective, even in disagreement. We need more of that here. David Brauer King Field TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ 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
