[Winona Online Democracy] Terri, While I accept the fact that all local unit of government are faced with tough decisions on their budgets and the services the public desires it is my feeling that the majority of people are willing to accept increases to maintain basic services while are willing to eliminate or fee base those services they feel are nice but not essential. I think we would all agree the police, fire, water/sewer safety and street maintenance are essential. Some would question if cities are the correct unit to pay for libraries verses community education funds, which we as a community were penalized because we had reserve funds on hand. Many also believe the some things like public transportation, municipal pools and parks should be supported with property taxes verses user fees since not everyone considers them essential to benefit property.
Many feel that adding back the 1 % city sales tax for funding non essentials like parks may be a better way improve and maintain them and to attract the tourists who in turn also support the cost. The point of my post however was simply to ask the media to report and inform us of "real dollars" not nominal percentages and to acknowledge that the bills we get from Xcel and the cable companies is not all their revenue or increases. Few people understand that this tax is optional not mandatory and with little or no fanfare it produces significant money to the General Fund. Paul Double Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 8:40 PM Paul, Thanks for posting this; it is something that slipped by me completely. In light of the budgetary shortfalls the city (like most cities in MN) is facing, what courses of action do you think the city should pursue? Increasing property taxes? Raising fees? Eliminating services? I am not nearly as well versed in city finances as I should be. My family re-located to MN almost 15 years ago. After an initial adjustment to the city size and to the differences in the kinds of services offered (for instance, in our city in MI, the city collected all garbage weekly, and would pick up furniture and used appliances for free if you called in advance), I have felt the city services to be quite good and city and county officials quite easy to deal with. I have been very impressed with the Park Rec department, etc. and the library, to name only two. I guess I am saying, I would hate to see us lose any of these services/amenities that make Winona such a pleasant place to live. I am interested in hearing what others think and how others feel we should resolve the conflict between what we need, what we want, and what we can afford. Terri Hyle >From: "Paul Double" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "On Line Democracy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [Winona] City to raise your energy tax 25% >Date: Sat, 31 May 2003 20:26:32 -0500 > >It came to my attention this morning on the radio that the City of Winona >council is scheduled for Monday night to raise taxes 25% on your utility >bill. One of the most played down taxes in the city is their option to >force Xcel to add a 4 percent tax onto our bills. Monday night they want >to >raise that to 5 %. While it doesn't sound like much the media should do >their homework and release to the public the "total dollars" this important >jewel generates to the city's General Fund. My guess the new money could >be >about $250,000 or one forth of the dollars they indicated they are short in >the paper today. If my number is off what is it? > > > >While "the thought behind this tax is logical" as everyone including non >profits and government entities will get tagged whereas property taxes only >hit those who pay them. It is one way for city taxpayers to also get some >more state money from the University and College. My point is this tax >generates significant revenue and the number, like cable fees, is often not >given the media attention it should get. It cost the city nothing to >administrate and is pure revenue. If the city is unwilling to provide it >Xcel has the numbers since they write the check back to the city. > > > >As a side note, I believe, the City of Goodview has still not elected to >charge the tax, which is a municipal option they also have available. In >light of the fact that they got a more dramatic hit on LGA than most it may >be something they need to reconsider. It could easily generate significant >revenue for them and fall outside the formula of the property tax increase >limits. > > > >The ball is now in the court of the media, the numbers are public and >people >have the right to know where the make up funds are going to hit us. We >have >had media coverage of the proposed reductions now we need to see the rest >of >the story. > > > >Paul Double > _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. 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