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I- <br />(:■' <br />ORONO BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING MEETING HELD DECEMBER 3, 1990 <br />years old. He said, "I have not done anything to my home other <br />than to fix certain things that were not taken care of wnen the <br />home was built. That cost me a couple thousand dollars. My <br />taxes have increased 50% in four years. I have asked for <br />services from the City such as the ability to make certain <br />improvements to my property and extra traffic control from the <br />Police Department. On both occasions, I was turned down cold, I <br />cannot imagine how you can sit up there and tell me that you want <br />another 13%. I think if you went back to the drawing board, you <br />could come up with a tax decrease. We are not getting what we <br />are paying for and it should be even less." <br />Mr. Curt Quady, 1223 South Brown Road, stated that the <br />numbers on the revenue sheet are interesting. He said, 'You show <br />$474,000 for street maintenance and twice that amount to police <br />them. It shows the amount of 5294,000 for Planning and Zoning. <br />Ninety percent of the work that the Planning Commission does is <br />done by the City Council. I thought that most of the money for <br />Planning and Zoning came from fees. The charge that bothers me <br />more than anything is legal expenses. I do not understand how we <br />can pay one firm that much money for a part-time attorney. v;hy <br />can't the City hire a full-time attorney?" <br />Acting Mayor Callahan explained that at this time there is <br />no where in the City Hall for a full-time attorney to work He <br />said, "The cost of legal fees does not just pay for Tom Barrett's <br />attendance at Council meetings. That amount also covers court <br />proceedings, and particularly court proceedings following the <br />arrest of people picked up by the police department. We have <br />looked into this matter and found that the amounts wa collect <br />from fines and such exceed the amount of legal fees. It has not <br />been determined whether or not a full-time attorney would <br />actually be able to save us any money." <br />Mr. Leo Bullock, 2940 Casco Point Road, commended the City <br />officials for Orono's low tax rate. He asked whether the tax <br />rate is based on the valuation of property and the higher the <br />property value, the lower the tax rate. <br />Acting Mayor Callahan indicated that is correct. <br />Mr. Bullock said, "Orono h.as very aggressive Assessors. <br />They raise the heck out of property values and when they do that, <br />the citizens have to pay the entire State. Not only do we pick <br />up the increases here, but also the increases for Hennepin County <br />and the State. In 1908 my value increased $20,0 30 and last year <br />they raised my value another $30,000. That is with the water in <br />front of my house gone. Not only are we paying for an increase <br />for Orono, but for the entire State. I would rather see the <br />property valuations a bit lower and the tax rate higher." <br />Acting Mayor Callahan replied, "The reason Orono has its own <br />- 7 -