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| Post Number: 61
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MrTarzan 
Group: Members
Posts: 564
Joined: Feb. 2004
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Posted on: Mar. 04 2004,6:04 pm |
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cwolff,
I don't want to dredge, I think it is ineffective, however, that is what the people have decided to date as far as it was presented in the paper. I am in favor of draining and bulldozing one time to get back to the gravel that exists under the muck, and was so clearly raved about by the Dragoons that first wrote about the lake. A gravel bottom is a natural filtered lake, and the one time fix would have been cheaper than the courthouse no one had a chance to vote on. Then with a proper dam, well administered watershed district, and people who have seen the difference, the lake should never be spoiled again. The gentlemen in charge of Metal Culverts here in town once shared a plan that he had for bypassing and digging out the lake (can't remember his name right now), but I thought it was brilliant. I have seen dredging in other places and I am not impressed.
As for the tax, I don't want to pay more for goods, and I don't know how I would vote. I would have to see how it is worded, and what assurances the city would have that the tax would be used for what it was raised for. If our mayor is just going to use it to pay for more studies from outside the county, or retreats, then I will vote no. If it is going to strictly be used for the lake, yeah, then I will even if it is dredging. But I believe I already heard they want to use it to subsidize business downtown, hiding it as "restoration", which I do not believe is the governments business and unfair to businesses not downtown. What have any of you heard they will do with the tax?
I still believe that it is each cities individual right to control its own local sales tax without any say from a central government in St. Paul. 
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Be not simply good, be good for something-Henry David Thoreau
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| Post Number: 62
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cwolff
Group: Members
Posts: 265
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 04 2004,7:21 pm |
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I think the watershed knows that the $250,000.00 maximum levy does not get you much if you are going to try and restore an entire watershed, and that the 1/2% sales tax will help get some of the things done within the watershed. At Heron Lake, around $177,000.00 of the $235,000.00 levy is used just for overhead; such as wages, insurance, office rental, office expenses, ect.... Also at Heron Lake, they rely heavily on grants.
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| Post Number: 63
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Madd Max
Group: Members
Posts: 1345
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 04 2004,9:14 pm |
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This article was on the Tribune web site
Fate of tax bill up in the air
By Benjamin Dipman, Tribune staff writer
Let the lobbying for a sales-tax increase begin.
And the waiting and the hoping and the expecting.
After local council discussion, public hearings, professional surveys and strategic meetings, the possibility of a tax increase is now in the hands of the state legislature.
State Rep. Dan Dorman, R-Albert Lea, has introduced a bill that would allow Albert Lea to hold a referendum to increase the sales tax by 1/2 percent, with revenue going toward lake and Shellrock River improvements.
"This is the biggest issue in Albert Lea for the past 74 years," said Councilor Randy Erdman, a forceful proponent of the increase.
And officials have eyes on Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum with education in their peripheral vision, should they need it.
Councilors Erdman and George Marin, Mayor Jean Eaton and Dorman all said the person who needs to hear from the community is Sviggum, R-Kenyon.
"What we can do now is to lobby the speaker of the house for his help," Eaton said.
"I think the speaker of the House controls what hits the floor," said Erdman.
"I certainly want to be open and hopeful to the suggestion of Representative Dorman and the community," Sviggum said.
But he mentioned a negative aspect of tax proposals like Albert Lea's.
"From the stance of tax policy, a tax purest would say you're separating those who pay the tax from those who decide how the tax is being spent," he said. "It's not the purest of tax policies."
Many variables affect each community's tax proposal, the speaker said, including fairness, equity and type of tax policy.
"We try to be fair," he said. "What we do for one community we do for another."
Equity is the manner in which tax revenue will be spent. Communities should have specific projects in mind, he said.
Finally, legislators will determine if it is "good tax policy." They will consider alternate forms of funding and determine if the projects are justified.
But legislators want to hear from residents, the speaker said.
"You always want to hear from citizens, Sviggum said. "That is important, as long as it is balanced with some comments we hear from other areas such as Brownsdale and Hollandale."
In addition to calling, e-mailing or writing Swiggum, Eaton suggested a group take a bus to the Capitol to lobby for the proposal. But she said that should not be instigated by the council, but rather by residents.
"This has to be a grass roots effort," she said. "This is a community issue. I think it should be driven from the community."
Should the bill pass, officials are thinking about education, but concrete plans have not been formed.
Though his ward has been quiet, Councilor Marin said he and other councilors would be available to answer questions from constituents and hold ward meetings.
He anticipates more public discussion once the bill get closer to passage.
"I think we have a lot of education to do," Eaton said. "(People should know) exactly what the money would go for and exactly what people would be taxed on. Hopefully some people will step forward."
Along with the sales tax bill, Dorman submitted a proposal that would allow communities more sovereignty over such tax initiatives.
If passed, residents could vote on tax issues without the approval of the legislature.
"It seems to me the bigger communities in our state has received this tax ability," Eaton said. "If it's good for one it's good for all."
Tax increases would have to follow a criteria, Erdman said.
Among other conditions, the tax would have to go toward capital projects, there would have to be a time limit on the tax, and an expected amount of revenue would have to be outlined.
But if the qualifications are met, local governments could conduct a vote without legislative acceptance.
"It would essentially get the state out of picking winners and losers," Dorman said.
So heres your chance people if you are for or against it let Sviggum know how you feel.
Speaker of the House
Steve Sviggum ® 28B
* 463 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
(651) 296-2273
E-mail: rep.steve.sviggum@house.mn
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Heck, if crazy were a pre-existing condition, the GOP wouldn't be able to get insurance. James Carville
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| Post Number: 64
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Liberal
Group: Moderator
Posts: 11451
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 11 2004,2:48 pm |
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I unintentionally recorded about the last 8 mins of audio of the house tax committee meeting this morning and I happened to get a recording of a funny exchange between rep. Dan Dorman and the chair rep.Ron Abrahms. It's about 1 min 25 secs into the recording.
House Tax Committee Meeting from 03/11/04
Dormans response cracks me up, he sounds pleasant enough but I really wonder if he was thinking "Boy, would I like to catch that smarta$$ alone in a dark alley"
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The people are masters of both Congress and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it!
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| Post Number: 65
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MADDOG
Group: Moderator
Posts: 7821
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 12 2004,3:29 pm |
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You're right, Liberal, the wise a$$ remark Abrahms makes, what Dorman asks him a question he doesn't know the answer to so he smarts off. Says something "cute". Doesn't matter whether it's city, county, or state, it seems like the "leader of the pack" remains the same.
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Actually my wife is especially happy when my google check arrives each month. Thanks to douchbags like you, I get paid just for getting you worked up. -Liberal
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| Post Number: 66
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repdan
justdan
Group: Members
Posts: 649
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 12 2004,7:33 pm |
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Abrams was not happy with me. He is one of the folks trying to claim that we did not raise taxes last year. We did on some people, check your tax bill. What set him off is that I pointed out that for some people we reduced their income tax last year. Given that we reduced payments to group homes for the handicaped by 1% it is hard to explain why we would lower the income tax. For the record, I voted no on both the Health and Human Services bill and the Tax bill.
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carpe ductem.....remember we're all in this together..I'm pull'n for you.
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| Post Number: 67
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Montyman
Group: Members
Posts: 421
Joined: Dec. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 12 2004,9:06 pm |
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You guys just shifted the burden, didn't you?
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Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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| Post Number: 68
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Madd Max
Group: Members
Posts: 1345
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 12 2004,10:46 pm |
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Rep Abrams has never been one to back a local sales tax. But if you would like to write or e-mail Rep Abrams here is the info you will need to let him know your feelings on any issues
Speaker Pro Tempore
Ron Abrams ® 43B
* 585 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
(651) 296-9934
E-mail: rep.ron.abrams@house.mn
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Heck, if crazy were a pre-existing condition, the GOP wouldn't be able to get insurance. James Carville
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| Post Number: 69
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MrTarzan
Group: Members
Posts: 564
Joined: Feb. 2004
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Posted on: Mar. 13 2004,3:59 pm |
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The issue should not be whether or not a sales tax is good or bad, appropriate or not, but rather the central control of the state extending down into local counties and cities, telling them how to run themselves. Am I wrong here, or do we even need permission from St. Paul to put in a traffic light? Isn't that taking state power too far?
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Be not simply good, be good for something-Henry David Thoreau
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| Post Number: 70
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 15 2004,11:12 am |
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From Today's Trib. --another request for County Board Support for the Sales Tax. | Quote | Belshan's disagreement was not with the initiative, but rather the wording of the resolution.
"The resolution was not about supporting a referendum on the (sales-tax) increase," he said.
The resolution was described as a "request for county support of the proposed sales-tax increase according to the agenda.
"I believe it is not the county board's place to endorse a tax increase or decrease in any city in the county," Belshan said. |
Once again, only One out of Five County Commissioners was paying attention to details. The County Board has no business supporting a City tax increase--that is for City residents to decide. Can you imagine the howls of protest if the County Board was asked to CONDEMNthe proposed City tax? 
Can you imagine the reaction if the City of Hollandale asked the County Board for a similar vote--a resolution NOT to ALLOW a vote, but ON THE ISSUE ITSELF?
One of the Commissioners--Springborg--seemed confused as to not only the resolution, but the use of the tax itself. | Quote | | "I'm not in favor of raising taxes," he said, "But I think it's important to support our lakes." |
Perhaps he has forgotten that the Watershed District was formed to take over "lake cleanup"--BECAUSE THEY SAID "THE COUNTY WAS NOT DOING ENOUGH". The Watershed Board has its OWN taxing authority, and its OWN budget ($250,000 this year, PLUS $50,000 and $40,000 borrowed from the County). WHAT would the additional City Tax do that the Watershed couldn't do? Another level of taxation!
Looks like another 4-1 vote coming up!
Mr. Tarzan--you are correct--we shouldn't have to have permission from the State for a vote. I only comment on the County aspect of this issue--let's put the thing to a vote, and quit debating.
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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