City Council Meeting 6/10/2009

Should the opinion of a "professional" (City obtained) Appraiser trump the findings of the Anoka County Assessor? Apparently, here in Centerville it does so by a unanimous City Council vote! The business was assessed more than the entire worth of the property!
June 10, 2009 City Council minutes taken directly from the Centerville City website.

City Attorney Glaser stated that he had reviewed all the numbers with City Engineer Statz and City Administrator Larson and conducted due diligence He had also hired a professional appraiser He stated there was one exception a previous assessment to the property in approximately 1990. At that time the entire parcel was owned by Sheehy and fourths to they sold three Lloyd Drilling Later the City purchased the Lloyd Drillings portion The total assessment was $82,000 He suggested that the Council be conservative and credit fourth or 500 which was paid on the old Sheehy approximately one $20,000 assessment This would make Sheehys assessment approximately $380,000.

Patrick Lee OHalloran, Sheehys attorney stated that Sheehy objection is two fold.

1. According to the Minnesota Supreme Court and the statutes all you can assess is an increase in the property value from the improvements. $316,000 is the entire property value according to the County Assessor

2 All benefiting properties should be assessed In this case no other property owners who benefited have been assessed

MrLee O Halloran stated that when Sheehy owned the entire parcel they were assessed and paid for the assessment Therefore they already paid for the same improvements and do not have to pay for them twice He continued that the east side of property borders Lino Lakes and Lino Lakes benefited as much as Sheehy The total amount received from Lino Lakes was $150,000 for the same amount of frontage. Mr Lee OHalloran stated that only a small section of their property needed improvement Sheehy would like Centerville to consider $154,000 the real offer for the as assessment, they believe is more than fair.

Adopting the Assessment Roll for the 21St Avenue Backage Road Improvements
Council member Lee stated that he is in agreement with the City Staff about the expected increase in value Council member Fehrenbacher stated that he agrees with staff recommendation on the $400,000 number City Attorney Glaser stated that when a party appeals an assessment to the District Court the Court does not decide what the number will be If it believes the City number is wrong it will be sent back to the City He noted that litigation could cost approximately $20,000 Councilmember Broussard Vickers stated that she supports the findings of the appraiser, City Administrator Larson, City Engineer Statz and City Attorney Glaser. Mayor Capra stated that she disagrees with the $154,000 number proposed by Sheehy She stated that she would agree to decrease the proposed assessment amount by the $20,500 credit for the earlier assessment
Motion by Council Member Broussard Vickers seconded by Council Member Paar to approve Res Adopting the Assessment Roll for the 21 St Avenue Backage Road Improvements setting the Sheehy assessment at $379,000. All in favor Motion carried unanimously.
Link Quad Press Story Here

Tricks Of The Trade And Your Tax Rate

Many units of government employ various “methods” to hide tax increases and large spending increases. Awareness of these methods can help you ask the right questions to determine if your local government is guilty.

It’s Not Our Fault
Many local units of government simply blame someone else for the property tax increases they approve. They cite a list of mandates, lost aid, cost increases and other situations that they claim are out of their control.
Counter Argument: Local units of government are independently elected and locally accountable. They have been given the power to tax and spend. They are ultimately responsible for their taxing and spending decisions.

The “No Increase in the Tax Rate” Argument.
The tax rate is the percentage of property value that is taxed. Some governments take advantage of rising property values by keeping the tax rate flat but drawing more tax dollars from the property due to an increased assessed value. They then claim a victory on behalf of the taxpayer by proclaiming that tax rates weren’t raised.
Counter Argument: Ask elected officials what the tax levy rate would have been to keep spending flat. Ask why that lower rate wasn’t adopted.

Debt Service “Bait and Switch”.
In this scenario, a local unit of government issues bonds to pay for a particular project. Taxes are sometimes raised to cover the cost of paying off the debt. Much like a home mortgage, the debt is paid off over time. However, once the debt is paid, the local government diverts the debt payments into other accounts instead of eliminating the tax increase that was used to pay off the debt.
Counter Argument: Ask your elected officials what debt is outstanding or recently retired. Ask these officials to explain the debt service plan. If debt has been recently paid off, ask how that debt was financed.

Does this sound familiar? For more information link HERE
From The Anoka County Watchdog.
8/8/2008
"Over the past three years, the Watchdog has been proud to inspire other blogs and web sites dedicated to fiscal accountability and good government. We’re happy to give props to other web sites and blogs out there in Anoka County that are working hard to protect taxpayers. If you know of one, send it our way.
In the meantime, check out these folks in Centerville."
http://centervillemn.blogspot.com/

Save Centerville State Audit Meeting 9/16/2008

Attention Centerville Citizens!
Update
It has been brought to our attention that have been confused regarding the City debt. We have attempted to get the accurate information from our officials. Dallas Larson stated that special assessments do not count against the state mandated limit, even though it's still debt. The only thing we know for certain today is that
"The City of Centerville has $8,055,896 in long term debt."
John Meyer
Finance Director
Date: August 13, 2008

Do you wonder why we needed multi-colored cross-walks, 20 lamp posts over a two block area while our City debt is over 8 million dollars?

Has your property been threatened by eminent domain even though it is against MN state law?
Are you being bullied by city officials for a new trail system, power lines, land, or increased taxes without appropriate representation?
Has your real estate taxes sky rocketed for absolutely no reason, or because of special assessments?
Are you frustrated by other actions (or lack of action) by our city officials?

If you said “YES!” to any of these statements, please join the Neighborhood meeting that represents CHANGE!

WHERE: Bobby and Steve’s Conference Room
WHEN: September 16, 6:30 pm

AGENDA:
How a state audit petition works and what we need to be successful.
Information on complaints currently filed against the City of Centerville
Information on the Mayor and City Council race.
Volunteer sign-up to help bring the state audit petition to the citizens of Centerville


Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.
Email Centervilleblog@yahoo.com

What Residents Are Saying...

Here are some samples of what your neighbors think...
LINK HERE
and
LINK HERE


When will someone stand up to these tyrants? The answer is now and the answer is us! If not, some of us will be taxed out of our homes for no reason!

What Is The Highest Taxed City In The State Of Minnesota?

According to http://www.citizensleague.org/ Centerville ranked at number ONE for 2006 and number Three for 2007. (Who knows what 2009 has in store for our City) Should we really be proud? This is before the road expansion project was crammed down our throats. You may view the PDF file links HERE and HERE.
What craziness lurks behind the walls of City Hall? Check back as we expose it.