Lino Lakes Ledger
Special Election On Charter Amendment Slated
As a result of the citizen petition brought forward last month, the Lino Lakes City Council passed Resolution No. 08-98 calling for a special election on the possible amendment of the city’s Charter.
Several residents weighed in at the council meeting. Charter Commissioner Mike Trehus submitted a letter to council asking that the ballot question “clearly state that our residents are being asked to abandon the protections that have been afforded to them under the charter since 1982.”
Resident Laura Carlson read aloud a statement to council in which she stated that she believes that the provisions of the charter related to the funding of street improvements now “[do] not serve the long-term good of our community … it was never intended that the charter would impact the city’s ability to cost-effectively finance the reconstruction of existing streets and other needed infrastructure,” she said.
Council voted to send the following ballot language to Anoka County for the November ballot:
“Should Chapter 8 of the City of Lino Lakes charter be amended to authorize the financing of public improvements with special assessments using the procedures of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 429 instead of current City Charter procedures that include a city-wide referendum for most improvements?”
It appears that the voters of Lino Lakes will decide this question in November.
Preliminary 2009 Budget, Levy Adopted
The council also put the initial stamp of approval on its preliminary 2009 general operating budget in the amount of $10,064,722 by a vote of 4-1, Council Member Jeff Reinert dissenting. Reinert did not provide a stated reason for his vote.
The budget, described by city Finance Director Al Rolek as “bare bones,” constitutes a 1.58% increase over the 2008 city budget and does not include any new staff positions.
“We tried to include all of council’s objectives,” Rolek explained, but said the budget necessarily focused on “areas of greatest need.”
Planned increases in street maintenance and stormwater system maintenance were set aside in favor of maintaining current spending levels. An initiative to fund the Capital Equipment Fund was also scaled back, Rolek said.
Council also voted 5-0 to adopt its preliminary 2008 Tax Levy, collectible in 2009. The proposed tax levy of $9,244,338 represents the maximum levy the city can adopt under the state legislature’s property tax levy limits and constitutes a 4.25% increase over last year’s.
Council also voted to cancel the debt service tax levy for G. O. Tax Increment Financing Bond Series 2007A, which financed the I-35W/Lake Drive interchange improvements. Those bond payments are currently being met by TIF proceeds and Municipal State Aid funding. According to Rolek, the city’s tax base has increased by 4.34% over the last year, resulting in a city tax rate of 38.574% for 2009, a slight reduction over the tax rate of 38.967% in 2008. The city’s Truth in Taxation hearing is set for Dec. 8, 2008 at 6 p.m. The hearing will be continued to Dec. 15, 6 p.m. if necessary. In other action, the council: • Approved an excluded bingo event for Oct. 11 at St. Joseph’s Church for Aquinas Roman Catholic Home Education Serinformation vices. • Approved an excluded bingo event for Sept. 12 at Rice Lake Elementary School for the Rice Lake Elementary PTO. • Approved the second reading of Ordinance No. 12-08 regarding background checks using Serinformation from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s database. • Accepted donations from various community businesses toward the Lino Lakes Police Explorers program.