01-22-1990 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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November 27, 1989 January 13, 1989INTRODUCTIONFUNDING ISSUESChe Fu„dln, FUn F.P« Isth« Uke Minnetonka Conservat i„ple»entlng the Lons-Tera.Ss active on Uk. levels and soutces o£Sc^nd^tSumrirnreve^^oF optl.t« opetatlons to neatsmands. < < to970s regional and state »8encies^shifwd^their^prSrant ™d5«cUi:rorirtet80-^:l;n^dlnB contributed to organU,ni„g !>•«"" “utlonshlps by FalUng to perceive ‘riTe re'glonal and state policy changes. c „cll Task Force on Uke Minnetonka «y!“t‘raUed for ‘rof Changes '“"^‘''f„^p,^den^o£' tho'’local nunlclpallty budget rtCD funding completely inoepe a 1 «m based on the assessed 67 legislation, funding is subject to the further of potential annual revenues. ong-Term Management Program "mutation of^new programs "Expansion of pro^ms and im^^^ 3 , Uy ianaging entities ff^'^ve that presently allowed under ditional sources of income 3 guide for generating MS :"c'-ltrth: M^osota lak. inprovanont Act. revenues that is con:>i. first ier of this preliminary ^^^^/^n^to SerTake""improvement ,e authority granted to the section presents means of Sfun'irf^drfMUr.'Hlnn.tonka nanagonont and r.gulatory m PERSPECTIVEChanges in priorities by state and regional agencies in the late 1970s, coupled with the failure of local managing organizations to adjust to the demands for greater regional access to the lake created a period of decline in Intergovernmental relations among managing entities on the lake. Managing entities on Lake Minnetonka face increasing demands for access to the lake in the next 25 years. The demands imposed by providing greater public access, development of the remaining open spaces in Minnetrista and Mound, redevelopment pressures on the remainder of the shoreline, militate for greater expenditure of public funds for management programs.Without a change in both the level and source of funding, environmental protection, shoreland management, and use management objectives cannot be met. Growth of boating cannot be permitted without a higher level of ordinance enforcement. Existing funding of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Water Patrol may be sufficient to meet today's use levels, but expanded patrols will be needed if this Management Program is to be implemented. Further, changes in state and regional priorities for access to Lake Minnetonka have strained Intergovernmental Relations between managing entities. That stress cannot be relieved without fundamental changes in both the level and source of funding for management activities. Those changes will have to be made by the State Legislature. The LMCD enabling legislation seems to have been the basis of establishing^ the county lake improvement districts. However, the legislature did not use the same mechanism for funding district activities. Instead, a much broader tax base was provided to the later districts. It is appropriate to implement a similar funding mechanism for Lake Minnetonka. The lake is truly a regional recreation resource that serves a regional population in the context used by the Metropolitan Council, the seven metropolitan counties, and Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District for their regional park and open space programs. Lake Minnetonka attracts boaters from the seven county metropolitan area. Just like the regional parks in the seven county metropolitan area, most users come from the immediately adjacent cities and counties. The Lake Access Plan provides the following data on visitor origin to Lake Minnetonka (Table 1). These data indicate that more than nintty-one percent of the users come from Hennepin County, based on the best available data on visitor origin. At the same time, approximately 61.3 percent of the users during the s’ommer come from the 14 lakeshore communities. Thus, approximately 40 percent of the summer users of Lake Minnetonka reside outside of the tax base for the LMCD. Since most programs of the LMCD are geared to protect the recreational resource and to keep it available to "all citizens of the state" (LMCD Code, p. 1), it seems reasonable to expand the tax base to better reflect the population served by the lake.