House LGA proposal, among others, keeps city on toes

Published 12:00 am Sunday, May 11, 2003

For the city of Albert Lea, waiting for the final word on what they will get from the state for local government aid has been a roller coaster.

Wednesday, the House passed a bill that would give Albert Lea a $1,046,547 cut in LGA, instead of the almost $3 million cut the city would have taken under Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s original proposal.

“We knew early that the governor’s proposal would be reduced,” City Manager Paul Sparks said.

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Sparks said the city wouldn’t have to cut into its police or fire departments, if this bill were to hold. In fact, it wouldn’t have to cut into a lot of things that were on the table under the governor’s proposal.

Because the city cut into parks and recreation to balance this year’s shortfall, Sparks said the city will look into other things to make up the additional costs for next year’s.

“We just have to see how it all shapes up,” he said. “We’ll probably focus on other things (other

than parks and recreation) in our cuts.”

He mentioned starting utilities for storm sewers and street lights, but said those are a few of many options the city is considering.

Over the last few months the city has had to deal with many different proposals. State Auditor Awada, Gov. Pawlenty, Rep. Dan Dorman, R- Albert Lea, and now the House have all proposed different possibilities for how to deal with local government aid during the state’s budget shortfall.

The city has reacted each time, sometimes sending letters in support or against them. Some carried more weight than others.

The governor’s proposal, which appeared to have a good chance to pass, gave the city its biggest scare. The proposal, which would have cut almost half of the city’s LGA, was based on a formula that used revenue numbers from 2000, a year that Albert Lea received a $10 million for police and fire pension funds.

Sparks said it is again early to rush to any city budget response. He is worried the House version may not go through on the Senate side.

“(Our LGA cut) will most likely come out higher than this,” he said. “But I think it will still be a figure we can deal with.”

“We’ll have to see what we have to do to balance it,” Sparks continued. “If it stays like this, we’ll be all right. Like every other city we’ll be scrunching, but we’ll be fine.”