Legislative review

Senator Rick Olseen and Representative Rob Eastlund brief locals on changes made in the 2008 session.

Cambridge will benefit from the restructuring done of the state's LGA formula. The city will receive a bump of $190,000.
Other local communities, such as Harris and Isanti, did not fare as well.
This is the news Minnesota Senator Rick Olseen and Rob Eastlund have been sharing with local cities and chambers in the past few weeks following the conclusion of the 2008 Legislative Session.
Eastlund pointed out that the LGA formula was changed upon the recommendation not of legislators, but of cities themselves through the League of Minnesota Cities.
Harris Mayor Rick Smisson questioned the change, wondering why another city similar in size will not be seeing a decrease in LGA while Harris will.
LEVY CAPS
Another move made by the Legislature that will affect cities is levy caps. This year the caps are set at 3%, although police and fire needs are excluded from that figure.
Theoretically, no one should see a rise higher than 3% in their property tax bills.
The levy caps were part of a deal made by Governor Pawlenty to reach a compromise on the bonding bill.
BUDGET SHORTFALL
Going into the session, the state had a $935 million deficit. This was exacerbated by the need for additional spending on the Interstate 35W bridge. To solve its deficit, the Legislature reduced its budget by $268 million, and then transferred in the remaining from other funds, including $500 million from reserves.
"Structurally we did nothing to solve the problem," said Eastlund. "We have no budget reserves left."
For the next biennium, the budget shortfall is projected to be even worse at $1.086 billion.
BIDDING CHANGE
Following changes made this year, local governments will no longer have to go out for bids on projects that are less than $100,000. The previous limit was $50,000.
"It gives you another tool to operate the city more efficiently," said Olseen.
TRANSPORTATION
Following the moves made in this session, transportation will see an influx of necessary funds.
However, the Democratic senator and Republican representative disagree on how that was done.
By raising the gas tax, the bill disproportionately penalizes people in this area, pointed out Eastlund, because so many residents commute. "I did not support the transportation bill," he noted.
On the other hand, Olseen did. He pointed out that over the next 10 years, Isanti County will see an additional $8.5 million to use on road projects. Cambridge will get $800,000 in municipal state aid.
Additionally, across the state 172 bridges will be replaced. "That's going to be significant. Those are roads commuters use," said Olseen. "It's moving in the right direction."
HEALTHCARE
The good news about healthcare is that providers will now be required to provide "baskets of care."
That means the days of receiving a price from the radiologist, a price from the clinic and a price from the hospital are gone. Customers will now be able to get the full price on a treatment and compare prices between hospitals, noted Eastlund. "There was a push to make healthcare more transparent."
He did express his concern at the expansion of Minnesota Care. A family of four with an income of $60,000 now qualifies, noted Eastlund. He said that providing full coverage was never the intention of Minnesota Care, but rather to provide initial coverage up to $10,000. He sees the new moves as a step towards publicly funded healthcare.
BIKE/WALK TRAIL
Both Senator Olseen and Representative Eastlund were happy to report that $156,000 was designated for the bike/walk trail that will connect Cambridge and Isanti. This was the final amount needed.
Editor's note: The information in this story came from several meetings, including the June 9 Harris City Council meeting, June 11 Cambridge Area Chamber of Commerce meeting and the June 16 Cambridge City Council meeting.

CITY 2008 2009 old 2009 new
Braham 441,816 475,903 482,338
Cambridge 603,742 653,947 801,898
Isanti 474,792 486,191 513,958
Harris 156,013 171,700 156,013
North Branch 349,538 431,592 429,229
Rush City 518,419 562,892 674,075
2008: current year’s LGA; 2009 Old: what the city would have gotten under the old formula; 2009 new: what the city gets under the new formula