New Ulm may get more

local aid

Estimates of aid for New Ulm under the final tax bill for 2002 amounted to $4,165,642, 15.8 percent over the nearly $3 million the city is receiving this year.

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Lobbyists for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, of which New Ulm is a member, gave the city council a report Tuesday on CGMC's legislative successes and failures during the recently concluded 2001 Legislature session.

Attorneys Christopher Hood and Steve Nyhus of Flaherty & Hood in St. Paul briefed the council at a meeting at the Kaiserhoff Restaurant.

Topping the report was the battle in the special session's waning moments to get greater Minnesota cities more local government aid to offset the loss of homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA).

The council was told House Research's estimation of aid for New Ulm under the final tax bill for 2002 amounted to $4,165,642, 15.8 percent over the nearly $3 million the city is receiving this year.

Hood and Nyhus said the increase was achieved in conference committee.

"The House proposal which we opposed called for $3,584,622 in local government aid and none for HACA resulting in a reduction of .4 percent in total aid," Hood said. "The Senate proposal which we supported maintained HACA funding for a 1.9 percent increase over 2001."

What cities were looking for was sufficient local aid to offset lost property tax revenue as a result of property tax reform, Hood explained. However, the jury is still out on what actual dollars will be available.

"The House Research figures represent 'best guess' estimates," Hood explained, "and I agree with legislators who say it may be a year or more before we know the true numbers. The tax bill is very complicated, and it may take quite some time before we really know what's going on."

An important factor for cities, Hood said, is the transition school districts will be making.

"If you have a shortfall in education, where do the districts go? The only solution is levy referendums which then create problems for cities in order to continue funding services," Hood said.

A major defeat for the coalition was its attempt to get more funding for highways and bridges.

"I knew we were in trouble when I saw that nine out of the 10 conferees meeting on the transportation bill were urban legislators," Hood said. "There's no way we were going to overcome that."

Hood said the Highway Construction Industry Council recently estimated that, on an annual basis, there is more than $800 million in unmet needs in Minnesota.

The lobbyists also had a good report about annexation legislation.

"The long and short of it was nothing happened," Hood said, "and we consider that good."

He said townships are battling to change current law that governs boundary adjustment disputes.

"At the present time, the law calls for a neutral body to mediate such disputes," Hood explained. "It requires that such disputes be submitted to the Minnesota Planning Agency which then transfers the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings for consideration before an administrative law judge."

If the township or city does not agree with the judge's ruling, the issue then can be appealed to the state court system.

"We feel we should support the system," Hood said. "However, the townships swing a lot of weight and are fighting this strenuously. We consider it a victory that nothing changed."

Hood said there are over 1,790 townships in Minnesota, more than any other state. Some states have none at all.

"That should tell you something about the political weight they have."