HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 03.dMemorandum
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Allyn G. Kuennen, Assistant City Administrator
Copy: Justin Miller, City Administrator
Date: December 11, 2015
Subject: City of Lakeville 2016 Draft Legislative Priorities
City of Lakeville
Administration
As the 2016 Minnesota State Legislature gets underway in January, there will be many
legislative initiatives and bills considered. The local adoption of legislative priorities is
intended to portray the City's positions on a variety of issues and to communicate Lakeville's
position on a variety of significant legislative topics to Lakeville's residents, legislators, county
and state officials, lobbying organizations, and other interested parties.
Attached for your review is a draft copy of the 2016 Legislative Priorities. The 2016 list has
been reformatted and divided into primary and secondary legislative priorities. The primary
list of priorities focuses on legislative issues that have the greatest impact on City operations
and policies, which will be actively pursued with our legislators during the 2016 legislative
session. The secondary list of legislative priorities includes ongoing initiatives or policies that
can be brought forward by staff if the opportunity arises during the 2016 legislative session.
The new format allows staff, Council, community leaders and our legislative representatives
to easily reference and focus on those primary issues that are the most important without
losing sight of the secondary issues that are still vital to the future growth and prosperity of
the community.
Additional changes to the 2016 priorities include moving the transportation issues to the top
of the primary legislative priorities and removing the following issues from the secondary
legislative priorities:
• Donation/Acquisition of DNR Tax Forfeit Property
• Water Resources Management
• Can and Bottle Recycling
Staff will be available to review and discuss the draft 2016 Legislative Priorities at the
December 1411 City Council work session. If you have any questions before the work session,
please contact me.
City of Lakeville
2016 Legislative Priorities
DRAFT
Adopted:
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IN N.
Index
Primary Legislative Priorities:
Transportation 2-3
A. Relieve Congestion Along 1-35 through Lakeville
B. Transportation System Improvement and Maintenance Funding
C. Street Improvement Districts
Municipal Revenue and Taxation 4
A. Levy Limits
B. Targeting Property Tax Relief Directly to Individuals
Economic Development 5
A. State Development Programs
Housing 5
A. City Role in Housing
Appendix A
Secondary Legislative Priorities:
A. Fiscal Disparity Fund Distribution
B. Sales Tax on All Local Government Purchases
C. Transit Operations and Taxing District
D. MnDOT Maintenance Budget
E. Public Infrastructure Utilities
F. Dan Patch Commuter Rail Corridor
G. Tax Increment Financing
H. City Role in Affordable, Life Cycle and Attainable Housing
I. Administrative Citations
J. Sunday Liquor Sales
K. Funding to Manage Shade Tree Diseases and Pests
L. Franchising Cable Service Providers
M. Mandates and Local Authority
N. Elected Metropolitan Council
O. Storage of Railroad Cars Within Urban Residential Areas
Primary Legislative Priorities
Transportation
A. Relieve Congestion along 1-35 through Lakeville
Position: Lakeville strongly encourages MnDOT and the Metropolitan Council to find
ways to reduce congestion, improve safety and increase transit options on 1-35 through
Lakeville.
Background: The Interstate 35 corridor is one of the busiest and most heavily traveled
highway corridors in Minnesota. Significant efforts have been made to reduce
congestion, increase safety, and improve traffic flow along this vital transportation
roadway. Transit improvements made under the Urban Partnership Agreement in 2010
helped reduce the growth in traffic congestion by providing an effective alternative to
automobile travel for downtown commuters. But the corridor also feeds many other
destinations for automobile and commercial truck traffic.
There is a need to expand the capacity of 1-35 in Lakeville to further increase safety and
improve traffic flow. Today there is congestion from south of Lakeville to County Road
46 due to a shortage of lane capacity. In addition, between 2010 and 2015 hundreds of
accidents have occurred along this section of Interstate 35 through Lakeville that have
included multiple fatalities. The City of Lakeville believes the following improvements
should be considered:
• Additional Park -and -Ride facilities should be considered. Within the next four years
the Metropolitan Council has determined the Kenrick Station Park -and -Ride facility
will be at capacity and with the future extension of the Metro Orange Line service
along the Interstate 35 corridor into Lakeville as proposed by Metro Transit, it will be
necessary to expand the Kenrick Avenue Station or construct other park and ride
facilities along the corridor.
• Interstate 35 Lane Expansions: There is a need to expand the capacity of Interstate
35 in Lakeville to increase safety and improve traffic flow for those commuters not
using transit. Today there is congestion from the southern border of Lakeville to
County Road 46 due to a shortage of lane capacity. In addition, there have been
over 300 crashes that have occurred in this section of Interstate 35 over the past
three years including 125 injuries and four fatalities. The Federal Highway
Administration has commented previously that additional lanes are warranted along
this stretch of highway. Improving this condition will increase safety and benefit the
region and the metropolitan area's southern gateway for businesses, companies and
the traveling public. Improvements to Interstate 35 would also provide increased
regional access to the County Road 70 corridor area, taking full advantage of the
improved interchange and promoting continued corporate, office, industrial, and
commercial growth.
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• County Road 50/Interstate 35 Interchange Improvement: Over the past eight years
the City has invested over $20 million dollars along the County Road 50 corridor and
Interstate 35 interchange area in preparation for the future reconstruction of the
interchange. Currently traffic volumes are high through this area with congestion on
the ramps and turn lanes and on the mainline of County Road 50 as it narrows from
four to two lanes under Interstate 35. Several properties around the interchange are
vacant or remain undeveloped due to the uncertainty of when the interchange will
be reconstructed and what effect the reconstruction will have on the properties.
Reconstructing the interchange in combination with constructing additional travel
lanes on Interstate 35 will provide the needed regional infrastructure to extend the
Metro Orange Line along the interstate corridor, promoting new commercial and
industrial development at County Road 50 and County Road 70 and encouraging
additional job creation and tax base.
B. Transportation System Improvement and Maintenance Funding
Position: The City of Lakeville supports State efforts to bolster financial resources
needed to address road and highway improvements. The City of Lakeville also supports
efforts to provide cities with adequate tools to fund maintenance and improvements to
local roadways.
Background: Current levels of funding for roads and highways is inadequate to maintain
existing road and highway needs and meet the needs of growing areas such as Lakeville.
Lakeville recognizes the need for additional transportation funding statewide and will
continue to advocate for additional resources to maintain the State's transportation
infrastructure. In addition, cities still lack the authority to use additional tools for City
street improvements; such resources continue to be restricted to property taxes and
special assessments. It is imperative that alternative authority be granted to
municipalities for this purpose to relieve the burden on the property tax system.
The City of Lakeville will be financing more than $36.9 million of street maintenance and
reconstruction projects with property taxes over the next five years. The requisite
projects have the potential of resulting in an 8-10% annual increase in property taxes in
the coming years. Street maintenance and reconstruction projects will be the most
significant contributing factors to future property tax increases. This is in addition to
more than $35.6 million of project costs financed from other sources such as special
assessments and municipal state -aid street funding.
C. Street Improvement Districts
Position: The City of Lakeville supports the authority of local units of government to
establish street improvement districts and supports changes to special assessment laws
to make assessing state-owned property a more predictable process with uniformity in
the payment of assessments across the state.
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Background: Funding sources for local transportation projects are limited to the use of
Municipal State Aid (MSA), property taxes and special assessments, and cities under
5,000 in population are not eligible for MSA. With increasing pressures on city budgets
and limited tools and resources, cities are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain
aging streets. Street improvement districts allow cities in developed and developing
areas to fund new construction as well as reconstruction and maintenance efforts. The
street improvement district is designed to allow cities, through the use of a fair and
objective fee structure, to create a district or districts within the city where fees will be
raised but must also be spent. Street improvement districts would also aid cities under
5,000, giving them an alternative to the property tax system and special assessments.
Municipal Revenue & Taxation
A. Levy Limits
Position: The City of Lakeville strongly opposes levy limits and other forms of levy
restrictions imposed upon local governments.
Background: Lakeville believes the best decisions for local matters, including levels of
property taxation, are made by locally elected officials. The imposition of broad State
mandates such as levy limits, "taxpayer's bill of rights", valuation freezes, payroll freezes,
reverse referenda, fund balance restrictions, and other limitations to the local
government budget and taxing process can impose financial hardships on communities.
Levy limits undermine local budgeting processes, planned growth, and the relationship
between locally elected officials and their residents by having the State determine the
appropriate level of local taxation and services, despite varying local conditions and
circumstances.
B. Targeting Property Tax Relief Directly to Individuals
Position: The City of Lakeville supports targeting property tax relief directly to
individuals as opposed to direct aid programs like Local Government Aid (LGA) and
believes that income, not property value, is the most appropriate measure of "ability to
pay" property taxes.
Background: Lakeville supports additional property tax relief to those in greatest need
by directing dollars to the circuit breaker program from programs such as Local
Government Aid (LGA). The circuit breaker income adjusted property tax relief program
provides direct assistance to those homeowners in greatest need whether or not those
local homeowners reside in a city which receives direct aids from the State. Lakeville
believes that on a long term basis the State should focus property tax relief to individual
taxpayers instead of local units of government. Such a program provides equitable tax
relief to all property tax payers in Minnesota.
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Economic Development
A. State Development Programs
Position: Lakeville supports the increased State funding for Business Development
Programs approved during the 2013 Legislature.
Background: Current business development programs include the Minnesota
Investment Fund and the Innovative Business Development Public Infrastructure
Program administered by DEED and the Transportation Economic Development (TED)
and Safety and Mobility Programs (SAM) administered by MnDOT. There will continue
to be needs to fund public infrastructure and other aspects of commercial and industrial
development that could previously be financed with private funding sources.
Housing
A. City Role in Housing
Position: Lakeville strongly opposes any effort to reduce, alter or interfere with cities'
authority to properly provide land -use planning, zoning ordinances, and subdivision
regulations based on the current housing stock, demographics, and market conditions.
Background: In the state of Minnesota, the provision of housing is predominantly a
private sector, market-driven activity. However, all cities facilitate the development of
housing via responsibilities in the areas of land -use planning, zoning ordinances and
subdivision regulations. Many cities choose to play an additional role by providing
financial incentives and regulatory relief, participating in state and regional housing
programs and supporting either local or county -wide housing and redevelopment
authorities. Cities are also responsible for ensuring the health and safety of local
residents and the structural soundness and livability of the local housing stock via
enforcement of the State Building Code.
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Appendix A:
Secondary Legislative Priorities
A. Fiscal Disparity Fund Distribution
The City of Lakeville supports the Fiscal Disparities Program and opposes any diversion
from the fiscal disparities pool to fund specific programs or projects, as this would
contradict the purposes of the program. The Twin Cities Area Fiscal Disparities Program,
enacted in 1971, was created for the following purposes:
• to provide a way for local governments to share in the resources generated by the
growth of the metropolitan area without removing existing resources;
• to promote orderly development of the region by reducing the impact of fiscal
considerations on the location of business and infrastructure;
• to establish incentives for all parts of the area to work for the growth of the area as a
whole;
• to help communities at various stages of development; and
• to encourage protection of the environment by reducing the impact of fiscal
considerations to ensure protection of parks, open space, and wetlands.
The 2011 Legislative Study of Fiscal Disparities, which Metro Cities participated in and
supported, has stimulated discussion of the program at the Legislature. Metro Cities
anticipates modifications to the program to be proposed in the 2016 Legislative session.
B. Sales Tax on All Local Government Purchases
The City of Lakeville supports the following clarifications and adjustments to the sales tax
exemptions as passed during the 2013 legislative session:
• Clarifying the eligibility of purchases by all joint powers entities and agreements so
that purchases are exempt as long as the service provided is a service primarily
provided by a governmental entity. Purchases by economic development authorities,
housing and redevelopment authorities and port authorities should also be exempt.
• Clarifying which purchases are ineligible for the exemption due to being generally
provided by a private business. This clarification should limit taxable purchases to
goods or services predominantly provided by private businesses.
• Extending the motor vehicle sales tax exemption that currently applies to marked
squad cars and firefighting apparatus to all municipal vehicles that are used for
general city functions and are provided by governmental entities.
The City of Lakeville supports the reinstatement of the sales tax exemption for cities'
purchases of goods and services that was enacted into law in the 2013 legislative session.
To ensure that citizens receive the full benefit of this exemption, the new law should treat
purchases of all local government units the same, including purchases made by special
taxing districts, joint powers entities, or any other agency or instrumentality of local
government.
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C. Transit Operations and Taxing District
The City of Lakeville opposes the State imposing the Transit Taxing District upon cities.
The City of Lakeville supports funding of all transit capital expenses and operating
subsidies into the State budget through the use of Motor Vehicle Sales Tax (MVST)
revenues or other statewide revenue sources. The Transit Taxing District is a funding
source for capital expenses such as transit stations and buses. These expenses account
for about 10% of the cost of operating a transit system. The operating costs of the transit
system are paid by all residents of the state through other revenues such as the gas and
sales tax. The transit taxing district is an unfair tax in that it taxes a small geographic area
for a service that is enjoyed by the entire state. The metropolitan transit service area has
grown beyond the seven -county region and therefore no manner of regional taxation is
sufficient to fairly distribute the cost of the capital expenses.
D. MnDOT Maintenance Budget
The City of Lakeville supports MnDOT taking full responsibility for maintaining state
owned infrastructure within city limits. The state has abrogated its responsibility for
maintaining major roads throughout the state by requiring, through omission, that cities
bear the burden of maintenance on major state roads. Cities should be compensated
equitably for providing a service that traditionally has been borne by the state. MnDOT
should also be required to meet standards adopted by cities through local ordinances or
reimburse cities for labor, equipment and material used on the State's behalf to improve
public safety or meet local standards.
E. Public Infrastructure Utilities
The Legislature should authorize cities to create, as a local option, additional utilities such
as a transportation or sidewalk utility. Such authority would acknowledge the effects of
repeated levy limits and the general funding shift from the State to local governments for
building and maintaining necessary infrastructure; the benefits to all taxpayers of a
properly maintained public infrastructure; and the limitations of existing special
assessment authority. Successful economic development efforts and community stability
are dependent upon a city's ability to make infrastructure investments. Current
infrastructure funding options available to cities are inadequate and unsustainable.
Funding pressures have been exacerbated by levy limits, unallotment and reductions in
the local government aid and market value homestead credit programs. The existing
special assessment law, Minnesota State Statute Chapter 429, does not meet cities'
financing needs because of the benefit requirement. The law requires a minimum of 20
percent of such a project to be specially assessed against affected properties. Alternatives
to the Minnesota State Statute Chapter 429 methods for financing infrastructure
improvements are nearly nonexistent. The Legislature has given cities the authority to
operate utilities for waterworks, sanitary sewers and storm sewers. The storm sewer
authority established in 1983 set the precedent for a workable process of charging a use
fee on a utility bill for a city service infrastructure that is of value to everyone in a city.
Similar to the storm sewer authority, a transportation or sidewalk utility would use
technical, well-founded measurements and would equitably distribute the costs of local
infrastructure services.
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F. Dan Patch Commuter Rail Corridor
Lakeville is opposed to any State or Federal funding that supports the study, planning,
design or engineering of the Dan Patch Corridor. The Dan Patch Corridor is a
proposed commuter rail line that would serve a region which runs from Minneapolis
to Northfield through the City of Lakeville. It was proposed as a passenger rail line in 2000
after being identified as a "Tier One" corridor in the Minnesota Department of
Transportation's 2000 Commuter Rail System Plan. Due to limited State and Federal
funding of planning, design, engineering and construction of transportation projects,
priority should be given to the improvement and expansion of the existing road and
bridge infrastructure and BRT system.
G. Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
Cities need greater flexibility to use TIF for community and economic development that
supports residents and businesses. Further restrictions of TIF would render the tool less
effective and hinder local efforts to support job creation, housing and redevelopment.
The Legislature should consider expanding the use of TIF to assist in the development of
technological infrastructure and products, biotechnology, research, transportation and
transit oriented development, non -retail commercial projects, and modifying the various
provisions of existing TIF law in order to better facilitate redevelopment and housing
activities. The City of Lakeville has a Strategic Plan for Economic Development. One of
the goals of this plan is the development of a toolbox of incentives to help facilitate
economic development in the community. The League of Minnesota Cities and Economic
Development Association of Minnesota have adopted similar policies on these issues.
H. City Role in Affordable, Life Cycle and Attainable Housing
Lakeville supports affordable, life cycle and attainable housing and recognizes that they
are important to the economic and social well-being of individual communities and the
region. Funding for affordable, life cycle and attainable housing is the responsibility of
State and Federal governments and should not be borne by local property tax payers. In
addition, the City opposes any mandated housing requirements. Cities can facilitate the
production and preservation of affordable, life cycle and attainable housing by:
• applying for State or Federal funding from applicable grant and loan programs;
• working with developers and local residents to blend affordable, life cycle and
attainable housing into new and existing neighborhoods; and
• establishing standards that encourage affordable, life cycle, and attainable housing.
I. Administrative Citations
Lakeville supports the use of City administrative fines for local regulatory ordinances such
as building codes, zoning codes, health codes, public nuisance ordinances, and regulatory
matters that are not duplicative of misdemeanor or higher level state traffic and criminal
offenses. The Legislature should clarify that both statutory and home rules charter cities
have the authority to issue administrative citations for code violations. Further, State
Statute should allow statutory and home rule charter cities to adjudicate administrative
citations and to assess a lien on properties for unpaid administrative fines. The use of
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administrative proceedings has kept enforcement at the local level and reduced pressure
on over -burdened district court systems. Cities using administrative enforcement
processes experience a lower cost of enforcement and a quicker resolution to code
violations.
I Sunday Liquor Sales
The City of Lakeville does not support any legislation that would allow off -sale Sunday
sales of alcohol. The City of Lakeville is a member of the Minnesota Municipal Beverage
Association which has taken the position to oppose Sunday sales, as has the Minnesota
Licensed Beverage Association. There are two groups pushing this agenda: Distilled
Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), a national distilled spirits association (not to
be confused with our wholesalers and distributors who oppose the legislation); and the
Minnesota Beer Activists, a small group of beer advocates that believe Sunday sales is
philosophically beneficial to their personal lives (this is not an industry association - it is a
private group).
Advocates of the legislation state that Sunday sales have the potential to increase state
revenue on liquor taxes by 5-7%. This has not been the case in the states that have
allowed Sunday sales. In addition, in the State of New Mexico where the legislation was
changed to allow Sunday sales, two separate studies have proven that Sunday sales are
associated with increased traffic deaths and have negatively impacted health care
providers, insurers, law enforcement and the judicial systems. In fact, public safety was
negatively impacted so significantly that some counties quickly held elections to re-
institute bans on Sunday packaged alcohol sales.
K. Funding to Manage Shade Tree Diseases and Pests
Lakeville supports state funding that would assist cities with meeting the costs of
addressing shade tree disease and pest problems. The resurgence of Dutch Elm disease,
the spread of Oak Wilt, and the growing Emerald Ash Borer infestation have brought
about a significantly increased need for City tree removal services which has placed fiscal
pressure on City budgets. Although the Department of Natural Resources' ReLeaf
program and the Department of Agriculture's Shade Tree and Invasive Species program
currently allow for addressing tree diseases and pest problems, funding levels have been
inadequate to assist cities. Cities share the goal of the state's ReLeaf program—promoting
and funding the planting, maintenance, and improvement of trees in the state. Lack of
resources to take preventative steps to halt fast -spreading diseases by removing infected
trees in a timely manner actually ends up costing cities significantly more in the long run.
L. Franchising Cable Service Providers
The City of Lakeville supports attracting multiple cable television service providers to the
City by streamlining franchising requirements and removing unnecessary impediments to
entering the market while preserving the City's control of its rights-of-way, local
programming, and customer service standards including PEG channel capacity, funding
and institutional networks (1 -nets). Under current state law, local franchising authorities
must adopt agreements that are "no more favorable or less burdensome" with regard to
area served, public, educational and government (PEG) programming, and franchise fees.
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The City believes that no case has been made for state-wide franchising. The State
Legislature and Congress should recognize and support increased flexibility in the
exercise of local franchising authority in order to encourage entry by competitive multi-
channel video service providers, without giving unfair advantage to one provider over
another. Local franchising authorities need flexibility to take advantage of opportunities
to provide increased customer choice while requiring a measure designed to prevent
economic, racial or other discriminatory redlining or "cherry -picking" that could result in
creation of a "digital divide" within the community.
M. Mandates & Local Authority
Lakeville opposes statutory changes which erode local control and authority or create
mandated additional tasks requiring new or added local costs without a corresponding
State appropriation or funding mechanism. New unfunded mandates cause increased
property taxes which impede cities' ability to fund traditional service needs.
N. Elected Metropolitan Council
The City of Lakeville supports four-year staggered terms for members. The appointment
of the Metropolitan Council Chair should coincide with the term of the Governor. The
Metropolitan Council is the regional planning agency serving the Twin Cities seven -
county metropolitan area and providing essential services to the region. The 17 -member
Metropolitan Council has 16 members who each represent a geographic district and one
chair serving at large. They are all appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
The State Senate confirms Council member appointments.
O. Storage of Railroad Cars within Urban Residential Areas
Minnesota's Federal Congressional Representatives should initiate legislative actions to
create laws or rules that would prohibit the current practice of storing railroad cars within
urbanized residential neighborhoods without the express written consent of the City. An
active but little used section of freight railroad track runs through the City of Lakeville and
a majority of the track runs through residential neighborhoods or is adjacent to
residential homes. While the railroad track is classified as an active line, several sections
are in poor condition and are not used. Therefore, the tracks are being used for the
storage of inactive rail cars in accordance with current Federal authority without any
limits as to the amount of time that they may be stored. Adjacent residential property
owners are experiencing detrimental effects on their homes and neighborhoods due to
the storage of these railroad cars including visual blight negatively impacting residential
home values, safety of children and general welfare of the community. Lakeville City
Council passed a resolution in 2009 requesting Minnesota's Federal Congressional
Representatives initiate legislative actions to address this issue.
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