Hennepin County Taxpayers Contribute Toward Grand Vision of New Streetcar System in Minneapolis

The Golden Fire Hydrant Award goes to the county board’s vote this week to contribute $150,000 to an Alternatives Analysis study for a streetcar line along West Broadway in North Minneapolis.  That $150,000 contribution would be part of the local match to a $720,000 federal contribution from (get this) the Federal Transit Administration Discretionary Livability Funding Opportunity Alternatives Analysis Program.  The contribution passed on a vote of 4 -3 (with Jan Callison, Randy Johnson and me voting no).

Mayor Rybak and the Minneapolis City Council apparently have a new grand vision of bringing back yet another 19th century form of transportation and creating a system of streetcar lines throughout the city.

Sorry, kids, but light rail, commuter rail and “high-speed” rail are so yesterday.  The cool cities are now investing in streetcars (on top, of course, of billions for rail).

And, should Minneapolis win this streetcar grant, it wouldn’t be the first.  In 2010, Minneapolis was awarded $900,000 from the FTA for an alternatives analysis of a Nicollet Avenue streetcar and in 2011 Metro Transit was awarded $600,000 for an alternatives analysis of a Midtown/Lake Street streetcar.

Last week, the County Board unanimously passed new district lines based on the 2010 census numbers.  You can see a summary of the new lines and a map here.

Based on the changes, five of the seven seats on the Board will be up for election in November 2012: Districts 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7.  Those are the seats currently held by Mike Opat, Mark Stenglein, Randy Johnson, Jan Calison and me.  Stenglein recently announced that he will not be running for re-election in District 2, so that will be an open-seat race.

After nearly 30 years of flying the flag of the United Nations next to the Flag of the United States on the Hennepin County Government Center plaza, the U.N. flag came down yesterday after the board unanimously passed a simple resolution requiring that only the flags of the United States, the State of Minnesota and the County of Hennepin would be flown on the plaza going forward.  The resolution also stated that the flags will be flown in accordance with U.S. law (regarding the placement of the three flags and the fact that the U.S. Flag must be flown higher than the others).

When I first took office in 2009, a constituent sent me a note expressing disgust that the U.N. flag was being flown on the plaza (and at the same height as the U.S. Flag, no less).  Frankly, I didn’t believe him – until I went down to look for myself.  After a little research, I found the resolution from the 1980′s that first brought the U.N. flag to the plaza.  It passed unanimously, with one abstention.

I began talking with some of my colleagues on the board about removing the U.N. flag.  Although I did not speak with everyone, there did not appear to be the votes to make the change and I decided to try to work behind-the-scenes to see what could be done rather than force a losing vote.   I set the issue aside for awhile as I worked on other county issues (mostly fiscal).  I did tell some constituents late last year, however, that if I was unable to make any progress on the flag issue behind-the-scenes, I would bring something up publicly at some point in 2012.  I never had to do that.

My Political Transformation

I occasionally get scolded by some of my colleagues on the county board for the positions I take.  This week, however, the scolding I received was of a totally new variety.  The positions I took on two separate issues were knocked as “big spending”, fiscally irresponsible positions by others on the board – a novel criticism for me up to this point.  One of the issues had to do with suburban court security measures in Hennepin County, and the other concerned state legislation turning the two county board-appointed positions on the Three Rivers Park Board into elected positions.

Court Security: Most court proceedings in Hennepin County take place downtown, either at the Government Center or our Juvenile Justice Center or Family Justice Center.  We do , however, maintain courts in three suburban locations, near Ridgedale, Southdale and Brookdale.  The courts at the ‘Dales tend to handle lower-level cases than those at our larger facilities.

A few months ago, a Hennepin County judge went public with his concerns that the suburban courtrooms do not require weapons screening.  The judge refused to preside any longer at the Brookdale court citing a fear for his safety.

Waaaaay back when (actually July of 2010), I posted on a request by Hennepin County for $600,000 from the LCCMR (the legislative body that distributes money from the State Lottery to environmental projects in Minnesot) to teach kids in North Minneapolis and at the County Home School for juvenile offenders how to garden.  The post is excerpted below:

Last week, the county board voted 6-1 (I was the “no” vote) in support of a county request to the Legislative -Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (“LCCMR”) to fund a proposed $700,000 county program called UrbanWatch… The kicker: $600,000 of this public money would be spent to help kids plant and maintain 40 gardens in the urban core of Minneapolis and at the Home School. In other words, we would be spending $15,000 each for 40 “community gardens” in the name of environmental education…

In the end, the LCCMR might not fund this particular program, but our decision to even make the request is evidence of the fact that we in government need to be constantly reminded of the following principle: The money we spend does not fall from heaven like manna but is taken from our constituents through the power of government. We should spend every dollar as carefully as though it was coming from our own pockets – in which case I suspect that most of us would find the prospect of a $15,000 garden absurd.

In the end, the LCCMR did fund a variation of this county request, although for only $200,000 rather than $700,000.  We learned last week how that money will be spent and, being the half-full glass sort of guy that I am, I’lll be thankful that the final program doesn’t sound quite as ridiculous as the original proposal (although still quite questionable in my simple mind). 

Here is Jay Kolls’ story relating to my blog post yesterday:

Yesterday the County Board held our final meeting in the 2012 budgeting process (prior to the Board meeting on Dec. 13 when we approve the budget and tax levy amount).  The proposed budget before us yesterday contains an actual cut in county spending of approximately 3% ($50 million) and no increase in the total property tax levy.  We would need to cut spending in order to hold the levy flat due to the loss of money from other revenue sources, such as the state and federal government.

Despite the fact that the proposed budget does not include a tax increase, many county residents received their tax statement last week showing their property taxes increasing – some by double digits.  That could happen for several reasons: 1) Changes in your home value as compared to the average valuation change in the county; 2) A change to state law this year that shifts the property tax burden from lower-valued homes to higher-valued homes and commercial property; and/or 3) Possibly tax increases at other local levels of government such as your city or school district.

Yesterday’s meeting provided an opportunity for Commissioners to offer amendments to the budget before our final vote in two weeks. 

I offered an amendment to cut the general property tax levy by 2.56% (just under $17 million).  That amount is what our Budget/Finance Department told me would be necessary to hold the median-value home in Hennepin County harmless from a county tax increase.  My proposal failed on a vote of 1 – 6.

Public Welcome at Hearing this coming Tuesday

The County Board will hold its annual Truth in Taxation hearing on the proposed 2012 budget and property tax levy at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 29, at the Hennepin County Government Center.

The Board is scheduled to vote on the proposed budget at our regularly scheduled board meeting on December 12.  That budget contains a small decrease in actual spending (as was the case each of the past two years) and no increase in the property tax levy amount.

Despite this, many county taxpayers noted that the property tax notices they received last week indicated property tax increases for Hennepin County and other local taxing authorities.  For example, the taxable market value for my home dropped just under 1%, but my property taxes are estimated to increase 6.8%.  Specifically, my county tax will increase 7%, the City of Plymouth portion will increase 5.9%, the Wayzata School District amount will increase 7%, the Met Council tax will increase 6% and “other special taxing districts”  will increase 8.6%.

I am hearing about similar increases from many of my constituents.

There are several reasons one’s county property tax amount can increase even if the actual total tax amount collected by the county remains the same.  If, for example, my valuation drops less than the average valuation drops, I will likely see a tax increase while some of my neighbors whose valuation dropped at a greater rate might see a smaller increase or a decrease in taxes.  The state legislature and the Governor can also agree to changes in state law that might lead to a property tax increase for some, as we are likely to see next year when some owners of higher-valued homes and commercial real estate pay extra to make up for changes to the market value homestead credit to benefit owners of some lower-valued homes.

Regardless of the reasons or whose “fault” it is, however, many property owners in Hennepin County are likely to see property tax increases based on the proposed budget that will be discussed at the Truth in Taxation hearing this week.  My intent again this year is to offer an amendment to our budget to cut the property tax levy by an amount that would hold the “average” homeowner in Hennepin County harmless from a county tax increase.  While we have not determined the exact amount of that cut yet, it is likely somewhere between a 2% and 3% levy reduction.

The hearing will be held in the County Board Room on the 24th Floor of the Hennepin County Government Center, 300 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis.

Free parking is provided for residents testifying at this hearing who park in the Government Center’s underground ramp after 4:30 p.m. The ramp entrance is on 3rd Avenue between 5th and 6th streets.

Tom Lyden and Fox9 had a good story on the OccupyMN costs and the protesters’ requests for tents last night:

Occupy Minnesota Costing Hennepin County $152,295: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com