|
Houston will fight to get 2009-10 LGA cuts reinstated
|
|
|
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
“We’re not disputing the figures (state-certified population figures), we just want the state to use the most recent ones,” said Houston City Administrator Larry Jerviss Monday morning. According to the state cuts to local government aid (LGA) to Minnesota cities, Houston, population 1,003, was to lose $22,066 for 2009 and $55,165 for 2010.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced the much-anticipated LGA cuts last week during his “unallottment” press conference. Pawlenty decided that because the smallest cities in the state were having such a difficult time making ends meet, all cities under 1,000 population would be spared of the cuts. Because Houston’s population was four residents over the limit, they would be losing over $77,000 in LGA over the next two years.
Hold the phone Martha!
Houston’s most recent population figure, which was certified by the state on April 1, 2008 is 989 and not 1,003. The 1,003 figure was certified in April, 2007.
As soon as Houston city officials saw the numbers last week they contacted the state to question the proposed cuts.
“The 989 figure was certified over a year ago,” Jerviss said. “We contacted the state and asked why they were using the 1,003 figure.”
As in most cases working with state government entities, Jerviss was told they’d have to get back to him. There were a couple of other cities in the state that were oh so close to sliding under the 1,000 population figure, but according to what Jerviss found out, Houston is probably the only municipality that will be spared of the LGA cuts.
“They told us we were probably the only one that had enough of a population drop to make a difference,” Jerviss said. “We received the letter 14 months ago that the state had certified our population at 989. I really don’t know why they used the 2007 figure.”
Jerviss is fairly confident the state will make the necessary adjustment for the 2009 and 2010 LGA payments. A decision will have to be rendered soon, as the first payment for 2009 is to arrive in less than a month.
The City of Houston is also going to dispute the unallottment LGA cut Gov. Pawlenty made last December. To help balance the budget, the Governor made 11th-hour state aid cuts to cities and counties. Houston’s second LGA payment in 2008 was cut by about $30,000. Once again, cities with less than 1,000 population were spared of the cuts.
“Our state certified population figure was 989 eight months before the December LGA cuts. We are going to also point that out to the state and ask for a refund,” Jerviss said. “By rights, we should receive a refund, but I doubt if the state is going to give us a refund.”
Houston city officials aren’t holding their breath on getting the refund for the 2008 LGA cut, but they do feel fairly confident that the state will reconsider its decision to use out-dated population figures for this round of cuts.
Sometimes smaller is better.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
