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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,September 23,2019 <br /> 7:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> Osmek indicated the committee did have a discussion about the gas tax and how that was supposed to go <br /> toward roads and bridges. There is some leakage,however,that goes into snowmobile clubs because the <br /> thinking is that snowmobilers buy gas and pay that tax and it was felt some of that money should go <br /> towards trails. It is the same situation with boats. The committee has been keeping an eye on where that <br /> money is going but Minnesota did not need a gas tax this year and does not need one next year. Osmek <br /> indicated he will continue fighting any increase in Minnesota's current 28.5 cents gas tax. <br /> Crosby asked how much of that money was diverted to light rail. <br /> Osmek noted the light rail system did have an increase in revenue and an increase in ridership but that it is <br /> still heavily funded by the taxpayers. <br /> Osmek stated he also wanted to talk about the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District bill since people <br /> are misrepresenting it. The bill was never going to increase density on the lake. The LMCD has not <br /> performed a density study since 2004,and if they feel there is a density issue,why have they not done <br /> anther study to look at it. The bill was designed to allow the cities to be in control of their land <br /> management and to not let the LMCD board, which consists of 13 unelected people,telling cities what <br /> they can do with noise and traffic issues. Osmek stated he is not going to hand over land authority to 13 <br /> people who do not live in his town and do not represent him and that the cities should keep their <br /> authority. <br /> Osmek stated he also had representatives in his office from the Metropolitan Council. In Minnesota there <br /> a lot of cities that are the same size as Orono or smaller. A number of those cities are already built up <br /> and they will not be rezoning any land or putting in new developments. Osmek indicated he will be <br /> getting together with the Metropolitan Council in October and the goal is to put together a methodology <br /> that says if your zoning has not changed by more than 10 percent,then you do not have to do a <br /> Comprehensive Plan Update. The Metropolitan Council agrees with that and they will be working on a <br /> bill to help cities not have to go through that exercise. Hopefully by next year that will be worked out. <br /> FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT <br /> 13. ADOPT 2020 PRELIMINARY TAX LEVY <br /> Olson stated by state law the City is required to adopt a preliminary property tax levy by September 30. <br /> The truth-in-taxation meeting will be held December 9 at 6:30 p.m.,with the final levy being adopted that <br /> evening. Once the preliminary levy is set,it cannot be increased, and it can only be decreased. <br /> The property tax levy consists of three components. The first is the operating levy, which is adopted to <br /> fund the general fund operating budget. The second part is the Pavement Management Levy that is <br /> needed to fund the City's Pavement Maintenance Plan. The final levy component is for the debt service <br /> of the City's outstanding bonds. <br /> The City's revenue budget is now around$9,143,000,which is a 6.6 percent increase over last year. As it <br /> relates to total intragovernmental revenue,new regulations do not allow cities to net grant money and it <br /> now has to be recorded as revenue and the expenditures need to be recorded,which is what largely <br /> constituted the increase in revenue. <br /> Page 3 of 11 <br />