There seems to be a communication thing going on everywhere. We see it in all the new technology such as iphones and Droids. There are tablets, Netbooks, Notebooks, and Mini’s of all kinds. MP3 players you can hardly see and Flash Drives that hold more megabits than most of us know what to do with. Digital camera used to be 3.2 megabits and now sport upwards of 19 megabits per picture. All this technology moves with creation and expansion that is at times hard to comprehend.
There is however another form of communication which is very straight forward and old fashion. It has been around in some form for centuries. It is the Sign. Signs take on a number of forms, electronic dynamic, lighted, sandwich board, poster board and banners. They proclaim just about anything you can imagine but generally revolve around advertising in some form. With signs in Breezy Point some level of tolerance was needed as to the extent of use. This was seen as a nuisance.
The city had undertaken a sign ordinance a couple of years ago to address the issue. In working with the requirements it found some unintended consequences. Certain activities were prohibited in use of banners and temporary signs and they were ongoing compliance issues. These generally involved signs for non-profits and community events. After considerable discussion at the Planning Commission a recommendation was made for a change in the ordinances.
This change provides for signs and banners with the following language:
Non-profit and civic organizations may display, without permit, a banner or temporary sign to advertise a specific or single day event. Said advertisement may be displayed seven (7) days prior to the event, and must be removed within twenty-four (24) hours of the conclusion of the event. Advertisements shall not be placed on the public right-of-way. Permission of the property owners must be obtained prior to the display of the banner or temporary sign.
With this change we hope to encourage community activity and remove barriers to those events that promote Breezy Point in a positive way.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
All Vetrans Memorial
The City Council reviewed the plans for the All Veterans Memorial at the September meeting. Activity for the memorial has been accomplished and completed for this year with the physical area of the memorial being brought up to grade and sodded. No additional work is scheduled for this year.
The centerpiece of the memorial is a sculpture that will be erected next spring. The sculpture was created by Jeff Kreitz and is really something to see. I believe those who have seen it feel it is a very beautiful and impressive. It is a somewhat spiritual representation of a non-descript veteran with a purple heart. Also to be included will be a couple of granite benches. Further plans at this time are yet to be worked out for 2012 with all expenses to be paid through the sale of pavers and donations to the cemetery.
In discussing the project Cemetery Commission Chair Gary Bakken thanked all those who have participated in the project. He indicated there is a good deal of planning and fund raising activity is to be accomplished before moving on with construction for 2012.
The City Council approved the activities for 2011 and asked for an update on the project prior to construction in 2012.
The centerpiece of the memorial is a sculpture that will be erected next spring. The sculpture was created by Jeff Kreitz and is really something to see. I believe those who have seen it feel it is a very beautiful and impressive. It is a somewhat spiritual representation of a non-descript veteran with a purple heart. Also to be included will be a couple of granite benches. Further plans at this time are yet to be worked out for 2012 with all expenses to be paid through the sale of pavers and donations to the cemetery.
In discussing the project Cemetery Commission Chair Gary Bakken thanked all those who have participated in the project. He indicated there is a good deal of planning and fund raising activity is to be accomplished before moving on with construction for 2012.
The City Council approved the activities for 2011 and asked for an update on the project prior to construction in 2012.
Friday, September 9, 2011
New Market Value Aid
For 2012 there has been a change in the law that deals with Homestead Credit. This will affect homeowners and cities in slightly different ways. The outcome is somewhat difficult to predict when it comes to final taxes as the tax system has many variables that contribute to what your final property tax bill is.
So how this worked in the past was a city would make the general levy to set taxes. The county would then tell the state how many homestead properties there are within that jurisdiction. The state would appropriate a dollar amount for each homestead property and the county would reduce the levy by the amount of the state appropriation. The reduced levy was then spread across all taxpaying properties. Your tax statement would show a line account of Homestead Credit which reduced your overall taxes. This was followed with a payment by the state to each city for the amount of the homestead credit as an Aid payment to each city.
This sounds like a good approach to reduce property taxes and worked for a number of years until the state started to have fiscal problems. To balance the state budget they decided they wouldn’t make the Homestead Credit Aid payment to the cities at all making cities deal with the shortfall. After a couple of years the program was funded again for a few years with another fiscal crisis that required the program be eliminated in some cities where the state felt the city had adequate tax base to deal with the lack of Aid. Again the cities had to deal with the shortfall. The program took another hit where only a portion of the Aid payments were being paid to those jurisdictions that still received payments. With the budget arrangements made in this last legislative session the program will see a final reduced payment being made.
For 2012 the program is reinvented. Homeowners will see an exclusion of Market Value of their property. What this means is the Market Value will be reduced according to a formula prescribed under state law. Homesteaded property owners with Market Values under $413,800 will see a minimum of $30,400 reduction plus an additional 9% reduction for market values above $76,000. How this works is if you have a $100,000 home there is a deduction of $30,400 made from Market Value making the value $69,600. The difference then of $24,000 (100,000 – 76,000) is multiplied by 9% for an additional reduction in value of $2,160. The Market Value for this home becomes $67,440. The tax capacity is then calculated based on the reduced market value. The tax capacity at 1% in prior years is $1,000. For 2012 the Tax Capacity will be $674.
So with this change, a slight shift of tax burden occurs to non-homestead, commercial and industrial properties. How this will affects taxes will depend on the number and value of Homestead properties and the extent of other properties within a jurisdiction. We can only wait and see what the outcome will bring.
So how this worked in the past was a city would make the general levy to set taxes. The county would then tell the state how many homestead properties there are within that jurisdiction. The state would appropriate a dollar amount for each homestead property and the county would reduce the levy by the amount of the state appropriation. The reduced levy was then spread across all taxpaying properties. Your tax statement would show a line account of Homestead Credit which reduced your overall taxes. This was followed with a payment by the state to each city for the amount of the homestead credit as an Aid payment to each city.
This sounds like a good approach to reduce property taxes and worked for a number of years until the state started to have fiscal problems. To balance the state budget they decided they wouldn’t make the Homestead Credit Aid payment to the cities at all making cities deal with the shortfall. After a couple of years the program was funded again for a few years with another fiscal crisis that required the program be eliminated in some cities where the state felt the city had adequate tax base to deal with the lack of Aid. Again the cities had to deal with the shortfall. The program took another hit where only a portion of the Aid payments were being paid to those jurisdictions that still received payments. With the budget arrangements made in this last legislative session the program will see a final reduced payment being made.
For 2012 the program is reinvented. Homeowners will see an exclusion of Market Value of their property. What this means is the Market Value will be reduced according to a formula prescribed under state law. Homesteaded property owners with Market Values under $413,800 will see a minimum of $30,400 reduction plus an additional 9% reduction for market values above $76,000. How this works is if you have a $100,000 home there is a deduction of $30,400 made from Market Value making the value $69,600. The difference then of $24,000 (100,000 – 76,000) is multiplied by 9% for an additional reduction in value of $2,160. The Market Value for this home becomes $67,440. The tax capacity is then calculated based on the reduced market value. The tax capacity at 1% in prior years is $1,000. For 2012 the Tax Capacity will be $674.
So with this change, a slight shift of tax burden occurs to non-homestead, commercial and industrial properties. How this will affects taxes will depend on the number and value of Homestead properties and the extent of other properties within a jurisdiction. We can only wait and see what the outcome will bring.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Win-Win
Sometimes surplus property can be a blessing to another. We all know the adage that the one mans junk is another’s treasure. In Breezy Point we didn’t have junk but did have something of value to another organization that was needed. What we are talking about was AED’s. These are Automatic External Defibulators. These units provide a shock to people to help restart their heart in the event of a heart attack. The police department carries these units. The ones that were surplus were useable but needed batteries. They also were not compatible with the systems used by North Medical. The city was able to replace these with newer units making these units surplus.
The city was contacted by a non-profit organization called Lets Go Fishing. This organization has started a Brainerd Lakes Area Chapter about 2 years ago. They have a pontoon boat and take seniors and others fishing who would not otherwise be able to do this. They take 14 out at a time twice a day Monday through Friday, May through September. Given the type of clientele they serve they wanted to carry AED units without the resources to pay for them. They had focused their fishing on Gull, Rice and Bay Lakes but will now start on Pelican as well.
They contacted the city to inquire about the units and the city council agreed to provide for the donation. The organization will be responsible for the batteries and maintenance of these units but don’t have the larger cost to purchase them. This is a win-win situation for all involved. We are fortunate to be able to provide surplus property to an organization that can use it and potentially save lives in the process. The organization benefits in obvious reasons. It doesn’t get much better than this.
The city was contacted by a non-profit organization called Lets Go Fishing. This organization has started a Brainerd Lakes Area Chapter about 2 years ago. They have a pontoon boat and take seniors and others fishing who would not otherwise be able to do this. They take 14 out at a time twice a day Monday through Friday, May through September. Given the type of clientele they serve they wanted to carry AED units without the resources to pay for them. They had focused their fishing on Gull, Rice and Bay Lakes but will now start on Pelican as well.
They contacted the city to inquire about the units and the city council agreed to provide for the donation. The organization will be responsible for the batteries and maintenance of these units but don’t have the larger cost to purchase them. This is a win-win situation for all involved. We are fortunate to be able to provide surplus property to an organization that can use it and potentially save lives in the process. The organization benefits in obvious reasons. It doesn’t get much better than this.
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