City Council - 01/16/2007 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
& OPEN FORUM/OPEN PODIUM
TUESDAY,JANUARY 16, 2007 CITY CENTER
5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOM II
6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER
CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Phil Young, Councilmembers Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher, Jon
Duckstad, and Kathy Nelson
CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Police Chief Rob Reynolds, Fire Chief George
Esbensen, Public Works Director Eugene Dietz, Parks and Recreation Director Bob Lambert,
Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz,
Assistant to the City Manager Michael Barone, and Recorder Lorene McWaters
Heritage Room H
I. MLC LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Bill Schreiber and Tom Poul of Messerli & Kramer provided an overview of the
Municipal Legislative Commission's legislative agenda for 2007. Major MLC initiatives
include the following:
• Support for local control and accountability, including opposition to levy limits
• Strengthening state and local fiscal relationships, including:
o Full reimbursement of Market Value Homestead Credit in 2007 and direct
payment of MVHC to homeowners
o Provision of better information for property tax payers, including listing the
"effective tax rate" on Truth in Taxation notices and an annual report on
property taxes paid as a percentage of income
o Targeting property tax relief to individuals
o Reexamination of the Fiscal Disparities program
o Opposition to sales tax on local government services
• Advocating for adequate levels of funding for transportation
Schreiber and Poul noted that there are three state program designed to provide property
tax relief for individuals —the Homeowners Property Tax Refund program, the Targeted
Property Tax Refund program, and the Renters Property Tax Refund program. They said
the programs are not particularly well publicized, so they will send briefs describing the
programs to Scott Neal.
II. OPEN FORUM
No one was scheduled to speak at Open Forum.
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES
January 16, 2007
Page 2
III. OPEN PODIUM
John Mallo addressed Council on the proposed renaming of the Purgatory Creek
Recreation Area. He said the decision was made by the Parks, Recreation and Natural
Resources Commission and forwarded to the City Council too quickly for adequate
public input to be provided. He asked that Council delay any decision on a name change
until more public input can be sought. Mayor Young said he already planned to ask for
that item to be tabled until a later date.
IV. ADJOURNMENT