08-13-2001 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2001 3. Presentation of the City's 2000 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report— • Continued accounting standards require the reporting of gains and losses on investment earnings. The City will be required to make a change in the style of reporting in 2004 due to the G.A.S.B. Statement #34 report model: a more business -like format. Malloy stated that Orono keeps their records well and the City rated highly. Flint asked if Malloy could suggest an investment that would give a good return with a low risk. Malloy suggested the City act conservatively to keep their principal balance secure, but had no specific investment advice. Flint stated he would like to see how Orono's municipal tax rate compares metro -wide. Keene stated that the Minnesota Tax Payers' Association provided a good comparison. White stated that with the state tax compression and reduction, commercial and industrial rates would drop permanently, but the residential rates would dip, then rise again. 4. Charitable Gambling Ordinance Revisions — Public Hearing Moorse stated that the purpose of the public hearing was to receive public comments regarding the City's ability to collect 10% of the net proceeds from charitable gambling. Orono currently has 3 charitable gambling operations. Most cities do have an ordinance • allowing them to receive 10% of the proceeds. The Parks Commission had suggested charitable gambling as a way to continue to fund park projects. Mayor Peterson opened the public hearing for comments at 7:20 p.m. Mike Meyers of 6032 Beachwood Road, Mound and Rick Sheridan of 6332 Miller Lane, Edina were present representing the Mound /Westonka Hockey Club. Meyers stated that they participate in charitable gambling at the Narrows Saloon. They are looking to raise funds in order to build another ice arena and lower participants' cost. They rely on 100% of the funds raised to help their association. He stated that a newspaper reported that children in Orono don't benefit from the funds raised to help the hockey association. But about 6% of the association members do live in Orono proper. He also stated that some Mound residents frequent the Narrows Saloon in order to support the hockey association. Sheridan stated that he was president of the association when they set up the charitable gambling. They have a two -year contract with the Saloon, and do not know if they'll be able to renew the contract when it expires. They borrowed $10,000 to set up the gambling and have not yet recovered their investment. If Orono sets up a trade area that excludes Mound, the hockey association would be raising money they couldn't spend. He believes, however, that Orono and Mound share a continuous border so they would not be able to exclude Mound. They began the charitable gambling in February or March and have been is