02-22-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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fill b Id, 41 Shopping for property tax reform by Paul A. Gil Wwnto:rn's 2 transit problems: Getting in and getting around Light -rail is now getting uschance by Ted Kulderie m make 'is caw, giving thisMigrn itsmmtusefuldiscussionyetabOut Srmndofnrnurru4.r transit. Soning our differences among property, tax proposals these days Its"fmnmmarana slatusisrequir- havenrotransportationproblems: is a bit like listening to car dealers. ing LRT proponents to face the (1) Setting (a downtown and(2) Everything so••^ds mgood. They questions earlier avoided, especial- getting around isithindowntown useterms, 'tundestand. ly about what that technology will (meaning the business district plus people to downtown would also distribule People to theirdestina- tions withn. downtown. But in the 1960s this began to change. Park. i rag garages began to be moved to hefringei fdownlown. In the 1970s the over -the -road bus termi- nal was moved from Seventh Street to the fringe. but you re, admnyoung- war relative to what it will ac- hwUniversity. the hospital com- nerane. Yo nect youmnet complish,and about whom pre. plex to the east: the arts/cultural The MTCbuses that brought pco- beingtold the wnote story. cisely it is intended to serve —long- complex to the southwes(;the ple to downtown still ran into and distance mmmulerstodowntown high-risNhigh-density housi through the cam. The streetcars The 1988 Minnesota Legislature or people in the neighborhoods areas now springing all arom., always had, and thinking had not that convenes Feb. 9 will be asked closenodowntown. care). changed when the buses came. But to consider at (cast seven now there is aqu:stion wher her the "models:" Minneapolis leaden are also be- Trail lien a Ily everyone had as. - Continued onPage 6 ginning to see clearly that they sumed that the system that brought Continued an Page 4 l Northern CL differs on sharing tax base If sharing of new cammercial-in- dustred tax base make• sense in the Twin Cities area, why wouldn't it on the Iron R+nge7 Sen. Doug Johnson. Dr.: Cook. thinks it would. Heback. a bill to make it happen. Grand Rapids -based Nmthcm Minnesota Citizens League— tmilartobutnotralat- cdtofheCitaensLeagueopemt- ing in the Twin Cities -- rejected Johnson'sidca. It was the Twin Citic, _itimns League that came up wnh the idea for commercial- indum.o l tar baseshamginthe-fmtp, . fhe idea became law in 1971. under it. FnM••n.n tuna 40 percent of taxable value of aew commercial -industrial develop. ment in the seven -county area is shamdbytax igdisiiicts:ntha( area. W ilhow drelaw,percapita commercial-induslrial tax base in the a -endowed city would be'_0 (im6 a.m in the pWrc9 among cit. re, wish more than 9.000 popula tiominstcad,that Ia(iois4 •o I. Dick Cain, wbo sc.ffed the Nunh- cm xlinncsota Lcaguccummince. riW n tyro"not uppoxd ml.k. base shancg p: ne... and we thoughnbmm o ,alk•rarcas ..it might ne a vhd Ihing' But committee found the area within the boundaries established in Johnson's bill — all or pa r:s of six northeastern counties — does nothaveahigh dcgreenfinterdc- pe rdence Mditically, socially and economically — the Iec.al lest app- lied by courts in uphot, mg due Twin Cities tax -base shah m law. The rwin C,(ics arc. is2.hd0 square miles w'rh 741 pesumsa square mile compared with 15.400 and 21 up north. The area in Jnhr.nn\ hill is the ,.me el fonh in la, tin sharing raenucsfroouhi,i tunepnduo tion tax Iovicd in lieu of property taxes on taconite plants. The committee objected italic bill pmposes to "share the benefits of property that is not art -related in the saute ore district." Only S 16 minion would have gone into a tux -base sharing pool in 1984—ram enough to make ran hdiffe nce in lax ra-,,acrnv the territory, the comudnac Fnm.: AnJ the cosl ofudminiaermc a c, pie, lawmight runty - S I,10000 a year— a lot to pay fir reluuvel)hideimp:,a.theeusn- nrlttccIII .-.Sh7duvt,llnrt