Legislators frequently attend forums on the weekends. In addition to calling your legislators, you can attend these forums to ask questions about how these proposals consider local government amenities and the value of flexible revenue options.
When you contact your legislator, the following resources may be helpful.
A negotiation between the House and Senate is likely to occur. However, every legislator will still need to vote on the proposal and a majority of affirmative votes in each chamber is required.
The Senate’s proposed budget limitations will combine many levy rates, including some that voters approved at referendum. These limitations may create difficult decisions for local leaders when important priorities no longer have dedicated funding streams. Additionally, the limitations created are complicated, arbitrary, compound over time and the multiple limitation scenarios make it challenging to predict which suppression formula each city will receive each year.
The Senate’s proposal layers new homestead tax credits and exemptions, shifting the burden of levies to other properties by more than $150 million annually. Additionally, this language applies retroactively.
The League maintains, and we hope you will communicate to your legislators that cutting local government revenues and suppressing levy rates simultaneously is a dangerous proposal that may have unknown consequences to economic development, vital services and other community operations.