Grand Marais held its Truth in Taxation meeting Wednesday night to discuss the 2017 proposed 5.5 levy increase with the public.
Only three people appeared before the council. Mayor Jay Arrowsmith- DeCoux allowed each speaker five minutes to talk.
“This is the Truth in Taxation hearing, not the meeting where the budget will be set,” said Arrowsmith- DeCoux.
“I have lived in Grand Marais since 1969,” said Bob Mattson. “I understand that the city has not gone overboard with their levy like some government entities. Still, with the county, school, and city all jumping on the bandwagon, it’s getting a little pricey here.
“In my one block there are eight retirees. Our cost of living doesn’t keep up with the cost of living. Five of those retirees were raised here and raised their families here. I understand that you have to address the basics of the city. You have to pay for the fire department, the police, the streets, etc. But as far as paying for the golf course, the library, bike paths, the swimming pool, those are all extras. If that’s where you have to tighten your belt, that’s where you have to do it. As far as providing basic services, that’s a lock.
“Sharpen your pencils the best that you can because with the county, school, and city it’s getting a little prohibitive,” Mattson said.
Joyce Heiskari appeared next. As a former city council member, she asked how much the recreation park and the city liquor store made, and how much of those profits were used to reduce the levy. City Administrator Mike Roth said the city took $200,000 from the liquor store each year and put towards the levy. Roth wasn’t sure how much the park would generate towards the levy this year, but he promised to look up that information and get back to her. “Are you having to pay more, don’t get me wrong, are you having to hire more help to take care of the tourists?” Asked Heiskari.
The city’s staffing has stayed pretty consistent, said Arrowsmith-DeCoux.
“I’m not against tourism. I know we have to tourists here,” added Heiskari.
Heiskari also asked how much the city contributed to employee health insurance and Roth went over those numbers with her.
Next former Grand Marais Mayor Evelyn Larsen appeared before the council.
“I agree with Bob. When you add up the school, county, city and hospital levies, we’re talking real money here,” she said.
Next, Larsen asked why the city garage was being built up on the old Tomteboda property and not in the business park.
Larsen said when the city purchased the former Tomteboda site, “That made absolutely no sense to me at all. It was always understood the city businesses would go up to the business park.”
Arrowsmith-DeCoux replied that the city looked at the business park but the site improvements to level the land for the 20,000-square-foot garage were too expensive.
“We found out that finding a piece of flat land was going to be cheaper to build on,” he said.
Councilor Anton Moody said a construction engineer estimated it would cost $900,000 to grade, fill and level the business park site for the proposed garage. He also said that because the garage was going to be built in the back of the Tomteboda property that the front, Highway 61commercial lots, might be sold by the city.
Next, Larsen asked why the business park wasn’t used for affordable housing. Moody responded by saying it had been looked at, but the EDA didn’t think it would be safe to put houses above commercial businesses especially when kids would walk through there to school.
As far as raising the levy this year, Councilor Tim Kennedy said, “We do take our budgeting seriously. From 2011 to 2015 we didn’t increase the levy at all. We were cognizant that there were hard times.”
But Kennedy added that roads don’t fix themselves, and, “Things we put off were things we needed to pay attention too.”
Both Heiskari and Larsen had more questions, but Arrowsmith- DeCoux said these issues could best be discussed over coffee. Larsen said her coffee pot was always on and he knew where she lived. Heiskari said when the mayor came, she wanted to be there.
Leave a Reply