Posted 9/19/01 Addressing taxes and growth Two issues always emerge when I speak to our citizens, taxes and growth. At our last council meeting two significant votes were taken that impact both. One vote was to approve a development creating 145 new homes, the second to establish a preliminary working levy at the maximum cap level permitted by the state. During the past two years, and even as far back as 1994, the city portion of your property tax has remained neutral and, at times, been reduced. This naturally appeals to fixed-income and low-income as well as all taxpayers. This has occurred at the same time as city services have increased. We have been able to do this because we have more households who share in this cost. Conversely, as costs of operating our community increase, no growth means more tax cost to you. We are keenly aware that new development does impact our community. The undersize State Route 95 bridge leads to traffic congestion in our community. Congressman Oberstar is actively involved in helping our community acquire funding for this necessary improvement. Schools and the quality of the education they provide are important. The referendum to build more schools failed this spring. Adding more homes will certainly add more children to the district. But the fact remains that the school district says we need more space now. Surely they will initiate a referendum in the future. Even without North Branch growing, the growth will go somewhere else; Stacy, Almelund, Harris, Lent? Our school district services all of these communities and the surrounding areas. If it fails again, I canít help but wonder who really comes out ahead. Certainly not the children. If it passes, I refer back to how much of the financial pie we all want to bite off. The council voted to approve the preliminary levy at its maximum based on the unknown pitches that the state could still throw at us. Their goal is to switch money from their pocket back to the cities throughout Minnesota, claiming they have done the system justice by putting the power back into the hands of the local residents. Truth be told, a dollar is a dollar, whether itís in the stateís pocket or the cityís. We still have to pay the bills. We have until December 15th to set the final levy limit. The Budget Committee is reviewing the proposed city budget and the goal is not to achieve spending the levy maximum. The goal is to spend only what we can justify as needing. In a growing community, needs become more demanding, more streets to plow and sand to spread means more labor, maintenance and material costs. We have maintenance vehicles and fire vehicles that are well beyond their life expectancy. We donít do our community much justice if we canít plow the snow or put out fires. Nevertheless, rest assured the council and committees are working diligently to plan properly and be property tax-sensitive. Growth, by and large, is what has kept your taxes down because of the spreading of the tax dollar. At this point, growth is paying for itself and actually providing our community with better services and opportunities while maximizing your tax dollars. The goal of the city council is to help ensure that this doesnít change. Should you have any questions, youíre always welcome to contact city hall. ©Post Review