HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001 05-09
CITY OF MERIDIAN
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
AGENDA
Wednesday, May 9,2001, at 7:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers
1. Roll--call Attendance:
X Tammy de Weerd X Ron Anderson
X Cherie McCandless X Keith Bird
X Mayor Robert Corrie
2. Adoption of the Agenda:
3. Presentation dealing with the upcoming special ejection for increasing
the mill levy: by Ron Anderson
4. Questions and Comments:
Meridian City Council Special Meeting Agenda - May 9, 2001
Page I of!
All materials presented at public meetings shall become property of the City of Meridian.
Anyone desiring accommodation for disabilities related to documents and/or hearings, please contact the City Clerk's Office at 8884433 at
least 72 hours prior to the public meeting.
CITY OF MERIDIAN
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
AGENDA
Wednesday, May 9, 2001, at 7:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers
1.
Roll-call Attendance:
~ Tammy de Weerd
~ Cherie McCandless
X Mayor Robert Corrie
x
X-
I
Ron Anderson
Keith Bird
2. Adoption of the Agenda:
3. Presentation dealing with the upcoming special election for increasing
the mill levy: b'J ~ /lh dvLJ" O?J
4. Questions and Comments:
Meridian City Council Special Meeting Agenda - May 9, 2001
Page 1 of]
All materials presented at public meetings shall become property of the City of Meridian.
Anyone desiring accommodation for disabilities related to documents and/or hearings, please contact the City Clerk's Office at 888-4433 at
least 72 hours prior to the public meeting.
(
Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 13
we need. I mean that's the way it is. I mean we either payor we learn to keep our
mouth shut. My other question -
De Weerd: Mr. Mayor
Corrie: Go ahead.
De Weerd: Michelle we set our budget at our final public hearing is the end of August.
Anything that is budgeted - we're saying that that is the split if we get the mill
increase this year. That will be committed to this year's budget. I believe what
Councilman Bird was saying is you know, in years after this, it will be up to the
council at that time. But certainly you'll have input into the public process and you can
be the -
Voight: All the citizens.
De Weerd: ~ Of the memory for us too.
Corrie: One of the things that this council would like to do is add three firemen a
year that in three years we'll have the six and open another station which would
(inaudible) to handle that other station. By doing that, we can do that with this money
that we're having with that right now and also we can add two to three police officers
every year plus whatever the budget is going to allow us to add (inaudible). What
we're trying to do is to catch up on this. We're putting two thirds of that money into
the police and fire. A third of it we think will be going to the parks. One of the reasons
is we don't want to the City of Meridian asphalt and no green spaces or any parks. As
we all know recreation is a very important part of the citizens of Meridian. That's why
we could have a two-thirds, one third split on this money. Next year it may be we
have to have more for the police and fire. We don't know that but we do now with
dedicating that million dollars, approximate million dollars as two thirds and one third.
Voigt: Right. Okay in another words you're saying that you're going to try to keep it at
this amount that you've put in the advertisement?
Corrie: We would like to yes if we can yes.
Voigt: My next question would be like for instance about the parks. You know you
said about the softball I think that was for the youth. What about, is there anything yet
about the Skating park or a bike park you know to be involved in that also?
Corrie: Are you talking about Skate board Park?
Voigt: I know it's in the planning.
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 14
Corrie: All we need right now is probably the next 2 weeks we'll have it decided
whether it be will at the new park or Tully park and we've already funded for that and
it'll be ready to go.
Voigt: Oh okay.
Bird: It will be built this summer.
Corrie: It will be built by this summer.
Voigt: Oh okay, great.
Bird: Also, Michelle to answer on your budget thing, we've spent money to have the
assessment on the fire department. Also the same team is doing an n assessment on
the Police Department now. We've had a parks master plan and so, we as a council
or the people that come behind us have got to if they want to stay up to time have got
to stay with these assessments. It's not only officers. You've got equipment. I mean
we've got police cars and fire trucks and stuff. We all know we're short on recreation.
We've been short for 35 years that I've lived here. You're not going to catch up on
parks and recreation over night. Thank goodness we have state police pretty good
and we've got fire pretty good. I think that the councils with these assessments have
give us a 10 year plan of how to keep our equipment and our officers and stuff. We're
going to have to try to live by it I feel and I hope the future councils will feel the same
way.
Voigt: I hope so too because like I said I do support and I just hope you the citizens
that are here you know get more involved too with the budgeting and everything
because I do know like I said you know of coming what has been said and done
pretty much and I appreciate you all. You all have done a wonderful job I think and I
thank you.
Bird: Thank you very much.
Voight: Thank you for raising our taxes (inaudible)
Bird: You could probably get odds on that other good job.
Corrie: One of the most difficult things to do is to ask somebody to raise their taxes.
Believe me it is very difficult. We felt that that's what we needed to do and we brought
. it to the public and you will make that decision for us. Yes, back here?
Ireland: My name is Wes Ireland. I live in the Chamberlain Estates Subdivision, which
is off of Locust Grove and Ustick. My question is going to probably sound like a
rehash of what we've already walked about but the specific question I have wasn't
answered. When I first got your letter, I read into it an increase in taxes so I came
tonight wanting to say no. After seeing the presentation I realize that it's not exactly
Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 15
an increase in taxes, you're just asking at first I thought to get back to the same mill
levy which would be leaving my taxes basically where they were as far as the
percentage rate, is that correct?
Bird: No.
Ireland: Because you're asking to go to a projected .4 which is the maximum, can you
explain reasons for actually taking that extra jump rather than just asking for an
increase to what we are today. I don't want to put any words in your mouth for
. . answers so I'm not going to give my reasons why I could see you doing that. But why
.go to a .4 instead of just back to the point what is it 32?
Bird: Thirty-four are what we're legally.
Ireland: What are the reasons to go that extra .6?
Bird: Well, I think Ron kind of, Councilman Anderson kind of pointed that out. Really
you wouldn't raise enough to do anything. I'll be the first to tell you that up until this
year we've discussed this the 3 years I've been on here. We've discussed it every
year about raising it and I've always been against it. I don't like taxes being raised. I
think we get taxed to death enough. I feel that if We're going to keep up the quality
that the city needs right now we need the increase. I tell you, the first year, first 2
years we're going to bite the bullet and you're going to pay more taxes and you're
going to pay more taxes. It's not going to be that much. If the growth continues, if we
didn't have that 3 percent cap on us, we could be down at the 25 mill levy because of
our commercial growth. The first 25 years that I lived in this town, we were a
bedroom community and housing doesn't usually pay the way. Now that we've gotten
commercial the last 10 years in here we are not getting the value of the commercial
tax because of this 3 percent cap.
Ireland: And that's a state law?
Bird: That's a state law and I think it was a trade off from the 1 percent initiative. Phil
Batt implemented this, it wasn't implemented in the 80s. It was implemented in the
90s. Phil Batt's the one that got this in with that 1 percent. Yeah, we're asking you to
take a pretty good chunk to start with but I'm telling you as long as the growth stays
your mill levy is going to come down every year just like it has now. In fiscal 2000 we
were 3248. Now we're 3180 and next year as Ron showed up there we'll be in the
26s. I'm telling you $139,000 don't even pay the increase that our employees are
worth or I mean deserve.
De Weerd: Mr. Mayor
Corrie: Mrs. De Weerd
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
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De Weerd: I'd like to add on to that. It was brought really clear to me as you start
looking at that 3 percent cap and the cost of inflation, you basically even out there.
Then as a growing city and that we need to compete now against other cities to keep
our city employees, you need to look at competitive wages. Then if you look
nationwide, health care costs have gone up 42 percent. In order to maintain our
benefits, just our daily operational figures are rising far and above the 3 percent
annually. Every year you equate it to you know maybe 5 years ago we were still
behind the 8 ball but every year since, we've slipped a little further behind because of
those additional costs seem to continue to accumulate and thusly you're doing more
with less but is that a good thing? If you keep thinking back, where is that point? Is
,that point 00269 scary? It's very scary to us because we want to still maintain that
quality of life and that level of service that we would like our citizens to enjoy that they
have enjoyed over the years. Every year it gets harder to keep that. Certainly it's
harder on our employees because they certainly have to more and more. We've
worked hard at changing our economic base because our commercial base does foot
more of the tax bill. As you get into that complexion change of your community you
also have retraining of your employees because fire kind of takes on a new
complexion, the service calls take on a different complexion. So, there's a lot of
intricacies that add to the rising costs and the cost of retraining. That doesn't include
any capital expenses. Then you start looking at like our police station. It's sorely in
need of more space but because you're struggling just to meet your daily operating
costs you're not really as well able to set aside into the sinking funds those one-time
capital expenditures as well. We're just trying to catch up.
(
Ireland: Would this council say that had it not been the 3 percent law we could have
stayed at a single mill rate for-
Bird: Let me, we'd still be at the .34 mill levy which we're at. Yeah. Let me say one
thing right now, this council and Mayor is building a 3.5 million dollar pOlice station
with no tax dollars coming out. We didn't go for a bond. We're paying it out of interest
that we have been frugal and saved. Also there isn't a councilperson here or a Mayor
that thought if this increase was going to bloat government we would be for it. We are
strictly going to stay lean and mean which has got us through the years. The reason
we've got through these tight years this past growth has been because of our
department heads and our employees. It's not because of the 5 of us sitting up here.
We just happen to have good employees and good department heads and we need
to keep them. As Tammy said you have got to pay them fair wages.
Ireland: I understand that. Thank you.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor
Corrie: Mr. Anderson
Anderson: I just wanted to comment to you'd ask the question of why we're not just
asking for that difference to stay at that 32 mill levy. I guess my answer to that and I
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Meridian City Council SpecIal Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 17
defer from Councilman Bird a little bit is that we couldn't stay at a 34. That was fine
when we had the growth of the 80s because we were experiencing 4 and a half
percent a year growth. Now that we're at 26 percent growth you can't do that
because for all the very same reasons he talked about. You know trying to pay
competitive wages and the increases in inflation won't keep you up at the 0034. This
is just kind of a quick fix. We still have a problem here. We need to be getting the
legislature to do something about this 3 percent cap and make allowances for cities
that are in the position of Meridian with this high growth. The difference I think
because when the whole thing happened years ago - I grew up here in Meridian
went to junior high and high school, I mean this was a little farming a little dairy
community with 2500 people. At the time when the 1 percent initiative was first
passed, nobody really saw it coming. Nobody thought that was going to pass so they
weren't expecting it. Meridian had an all volunteer fire department at that time. They
had a little I think 10 member or 11~member police department at the time. We had
one park in town and then all of a sudden the legislature says okay you're froze thafs
it. Now we've blossomed into a city of 35 36,000 people and the form of government
and the services that we provide have to change and adapt with that. We can't run an
all volunteer fire department today. When you're running 2600 calls for example if
you were a volunteer fireman trying to hold down a full time job you'd be taking off
every 5 minutes to go fight a fire call. We have to transition into a fully paid staff and
we've been really struggling with just trying to retain our employees because all the
other cities are hiring our employees. They turn out to be good employees they're
going to go somewhere and work for more money. We're trying to stay competitive in
the market. I do agree with Keith that this city has done some remarkable things on a
shoestring budget and for cities our size and with no more income than we have -
We have other mayors and city council people and they're asking us and they're just
shaking their heads. They're like how are you guys even staying where you're at and
how are you still keeping from being millions of dollars in debt. Well, we're doing it by
good quality people and staying real frugal. We're not asking you guys to change any
of that. Like Keith said we plan on staying lean and mean and keeping the
government working the way it should here.
Bird: Ron, I think you misunderstand his question or my answer. I thought he said if
the 3 percent cap was off could we stay at the 34? Sure we could. If we got the total
34 percent or .0034 of the 1.7 billion yeah we'd be glad to stay there if they took the 3
percent cap off.
Corrie: But your taxes would be much higher.
Bird: Your taxes would be much higher yeah.
Dennison: Mr. Mayor, City Council members. J'd like to thank Ron Anderson for his
presentation tonight because I really wasn't sure I wanted to raise my taxes either.
With your presentation it makes it pretty clear that if we want to stay a desirable city
to live in we need to provide services for residents here in this community. My one
comment was going to be about the parks because, over in our area - My name's
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 18
Kathy Dennison. I live in Chamberlain Estates and over in our area there just is no
place for the kids to play other than the street. Every day when I drive home form
work or drive through the community there are kids out in the street playing ball and
whatnot. You know when you live in a subdivision you're really limited to space and
you don't a big back yard to play in anymore. So, I was wondering if there was a
possibility that I realize that the big park is going in on Meridian and Ustick over there.
That would be great but the only way people would be able to have access to that is
if they drove over there because there's no sidewalks between Locust Grove and
Meridian that goes all the way through. I was wondering if either that could be
. provided or possibly even a smaller park in that area of the town over there because
there's really no other area other than the street where you can have room to
maneuver. When kids are out there playing ball and the ball winds up on your car or
something like that, it's not too good of a deal. I really think you know like maybe a
possibility of smaller pocket parks would be a good thing to do too.
Corrie: That's a good question. We've actually done a lot of planning in that area.
Tammy is our Council liaison to the parks and recreation department. We have our
parks director here tonight. I think maybe they can give you some insight about. We
do plan some smaller parks and some pathways to connect those.
De Weerd: Mr. Mayor
Corrie: Mrs. De Weerd:
De Weerd: Kathy, I appreciate your sentiments that's why I got involved in city
government myself. We've done some things over the year. In 1996 we implemented
a park impact fee which helps lessen the impact of new growth by contributing into a
fund that starts to help buying land and developing land. At the time that was enacted
and by state law the city is required also to pay a proportional share of that which this
year we certainly are taking some big steps forward in the parks area. Another thing
that we've done is this year we passed a landscape ordinance so new development 5
coming in have to have a 5 percent open space within their development 5 so to
provide for some relief for the residents of those development s. Then also if they
want to go out and play organized sports they can utilize the larger parks where you
have more room to do that. You know between the parks impact fee and the new 5
percent that we're asking of new development that should help for future
development. Now the developments that exist today you know we are working on
our master plan. We're working on a master pathway plan that hopefully starts
connecting our city so that you can safely get from point a to point b whether it's for
recreational purposes or alternative transportation purposes or things like that. We
are trying to start making up some ground that we've lost over the years and plan for
that and start acquiring it so it does work together. Maybe a pathway system can help
your family get safely from one park or another. That's what we've done up to this
point and we're anxious to see our capital and the police and fire all those plans start
working to be implemented so we can start achieving some of these goals that we're
setting.
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 19
(
Dennison: I also appreciate the way that this community has developed and the
efforts of the people that volunteer to be on the council and spend a lot of their time
planning for our future. I must say that I'm convinced. I'm going to vote for the tax
increase because I think we really need to keep up and keep our community a viable
community. I'd just like to thank you for your presentation tonight.
De Weerd: Thank you Kathy.
Corrie: Thank you. Bring your neighbors and friends.
Bird: Mr. Mayor
Corrie: Mr. Bird
Bird: I'd like to state that we have been very successful as a city I believe because of
the cooperation we've had from the private and non profit groups that have come
forward and helped us in developing a lot of our programs and stuff and I hope this
will continue. This is another reason that our tax base has been able to stay down
and it's probably something that I hope will continue regardless of what the tax base
is and how big we get. We still need to stay a community instead of a city.
De Weerd: We will try and continue to be very frugal. We honored city volunteers
yesterday. I'll tell you what if we didn't have city volunteers donating their time and
efforts you know you couldn't pay the cost of their time and efforts. We have a parks
and recreation commission, a pathway commission that is putting together the master
pathway plan. We have Citizens on Patrol. We have volunteer fire fighters. We have
reserve police officers and collectively, with all these people and their efforts. You
know if we had to pay someone to do a lot of what those citizens are doing on behalf
of their community we'd really be behind the 8 ball. It's because we have citizens that
are willing to donate their time, we have partnerships out there that are being created
to try and help be a part of the solution that we're able to be where we are today and
hopefully to help us to accelerate into the future and implementing plans that we want
to get done. I think we sustain this far because of the people that get involved. Like
Michelle Voight has said earlier we depend on citizens coming and giving us input,
telling us what you think because we try and make the best decisions we can on
behalf of you. We're your public servants.
(inaudible discussion)
Corrie: That's it?
McEvoy: I'm Sam McEvoy. I live over on Elm Place. Just to let the public know that a
week and-a-half ago we had an infant code over behind the new station. It took us
seven minutes to get over there. Unfortunately the baby was termed SIDS. We need
to have more firemen and policemen and that. My biggest concern on the letter was
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 20
is you know all of a sudden here's $300,000 for parks. I know the parks gets the
impact fees plus they got donations and that that they've accumulated almost a
million dollars now and that. Why can't we have an impact fee to help out the fire and
police in their capital expenses you know?
Bird: Go talk to the legislature.
McEvoy: When they first put that in for the parks that was only suppose to be 50
percent for parks, 25 for the cops and 25 for the fire. All of a sudden it all went to
parks.
De Weerd: Sam, I'd like to respond to that. Impact fees have to be for specific were
implemented for parks. We are researching a safety impact fee but you have to have
capital assets. Right now through the evaluations that your department went through
last year and the Police Department is going through this year. We are developing a
capital improvement plan that we can, and a facility plan that we can finally say that
we have a base that we can start collecting fees on. It is a process to develop and it
has been discussed probably about the last six months and I know that the Fire
Department is close to completion of their plan and the Police Department will
shortly be there after. We know we need a safety impact fee and we're all pretty
desperate to get that as well.
McEvoy: My question is why don't you have your big stick in there beating the
legislature to change things?
(inaudible discussion)
De Weerd: We'll give you our stick okay? We'll give our stick to you.
Corrie: Not to cut it short here but we do have representation down there. We have
the AIC and we also got the fire unions down there. They're trying to work together to
get some of these things through the legislature. It might change with this new
change in the population where it is you'll probably see another representative from
this area. It's going from the rural to urban. I think we are down there and hitting them
the biggest stick we can. They don't always want to listen to us.
McEvoy: You know but as a citizen and that I'm willing to pay the extra to help fight
this because it's not just this council ifs been in the past councils and that that have
not kept the controls on the growth, such a rapid growth and that. So you guys inherit
the problem but you're getting my vote.
Corrie: Thank you. One of the things is it's very difficult to control growth. We can
help manage it but as long as Idaho has been discovered - believe me when I go
camping when I get time, it's pretty hard to find camping spaces. Twenty years ago
I'd go up and do it anytime. Idaho has been found. We have a good place to raise
families and recreational facilities. People are coming and we get it every day that
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 21
why don't you build a fence and say no more growth. Well, we can't legally say, you
can't come here. We try to manage it the best we can but we're having real battles as
you well know from growth in the north part of our area of impact, I don't want to go
into that tonight. It's something else that's entirely different from what we're doing
here tonight. If that happens you're going to see a bigger chunk of money going up
there somewhere. I'll get off my soapbox as well. We're not here for that tonight. Any
questions? Statements? We want to hear everything you have to say. We're here
representing you and we can't do it unless we hear from you. Yes, sure.
Bird: Come on up.
Corrie: Come up here.
Vernon: With a new development - I'm Terry Vernon again from Crossroads
Subdivision. With a new development coming in can't City Council you know
approves permits and everything, can't they make the developers do more to help
out?
Corrie: Up to a point, legal point.
Vernon: Okay.
Corrie: They have certain rights as well and we can only do so much. With aUf new
area of impact and plus the comp plan, we're going from a 3 percent to a 5 percent
green space but you can only extract so much from a developer. Then it becomes a
you do this and then we'll let you have that. We can't do that.
Vernon: Okay Thank you.
Corrie: They're helping as much as they can.
De Weerd: Mr. Vernon, as well growth needs to make up for the new growth but it
can't make up for the deficit that existed before they came in. If it did, that would be
termed taking and then we'd be spending our tax dollars in court fighting that. It is a
fine line that we walk on that. We try very hard not to - we try to be right there at that
line no more above or less than possible. I think they're doing their share. It's just that
our deficit gets a little bit more noticeable as we continue along.
Corrie: Anyone else?
(inaudible discussion)
Bird: Let's get out of here.
Corrie: One of the things that this is the sample ballot that we will have. If you can't
be here the 22nd you can come into the City Clerk's office right here, get an absentee
Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 22
ballot and cast your vote as well. The ballot will be mark an X either on the yes or no.
It will say shall the city be allowed to increase it's budget for the 2001 - 2002 budget
year by an amount not to exceed the difference between .004 and the amount of the
levy for the 2000- 2001 budget year which is 00318 multiply by the market value of
assessable property in such a year? There's a place to put an X yes or no. It's a very
simple ballot. It takes 60 percent of the people voting in order to pass it so we
encourage you to vote. I will encourage you to vote yes but it's entirely up to you. We
know where the money is going and we want to make everything up front, not hiding
anything. If you have any questions even before the22nd you call my office; you can
call anyone of the council people here. You can call our finance director, treasurer.
We'll answer any questions you have or your neighbors might have. We're not trying
to do anything that's wrong or that and we want to bring everything out front. You've
got questions we want to address them because we're not doing anything under the
table or anything. Okay?
Bird: Mr. Mayor
Corrie: Mr. Bird
Bird: I want to thank you for coming out on behalf of the Council and Mayor. I hope
you will go out and vote regardless of how you're going to vote. At least get out and
vote. That's the main thing. That's the one right we've got living in these nice United
States of America so go out and exercise your vote. We would like that. We'd like to
see a big turn out and see how it goes. I will promise you as one councilperson we
will not spend your money wrongly. We will not bloat government.
Corrie: Anyone on the Council want to say anything? Okay. I want to personally
thank Ron for that presentation. I like that. Nice job and thank you very much. So with
that, I will entertain a motion that we close the hearing and say good night to these
fine folks.
Bird: And that we adjourn?
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Motion's made and second that we adjourn. All those in favor say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:25 PM
(TAPE ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
APPROVED:
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 23
R
Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9. 2001
The special meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 7:00 PM on
Wednesday May 9,2001 by Mayor Robert D. Corrie.
Members Present: Mayor Robert Corrie, Cherie McCandless, Ron Anderson, Tammy
De Weerd, and Keith Bird.
Others Present: Janice Smith, Ken Bowers, Stacy Kilchenmann, Bill Gordon, Tom
. Kuntz, and Will Berg.
Corrie: Thank you for coming this evening. I'm going to open the special meeting of
the Meridian City Council at 7:00 PM, Wednesday May 9, 2001. The Meridian City
Council will make a presentation to the people here tonight dealing with the up
coming election for the increase in the mill levy. Tonight the presentation will be
made by Councilman Ron Anderson on PowerPoint. After he's through if you have
questions which I'm sure you will, we'll be happy to answer those as you get them to
us. At this time, I will Mr. Anderson down from the podium and do his presentation.
Thank you Ron.
Presentation Dealing With The Upcoming Special Election For
Increasing The Mill Levy:
Anderson: Thank you Mayor Corrie. Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. I get the
wonderful task of standing up here tonight and giving a presentation about why we're
going to ask you to increase your taxes and hopefully explain to you why we're in a
position where we need to ask you to do that and what that would fund. I don't think
anybody on the council including the Mayor enjoys raising anybody's taxes. That's
not something that we're looking at doing and doing that overwhelmingly with a lot of
enthusiasm, It's something that we feel has just become a necessity. Hopefully I can
demonstrate tonight to you through this presentation what the needs are. Ultimately
you the citizens of Meridian will decide what you want to fund and if you feel that
these items are a priority to you. If they're not then as your elected officials we're
bound and obligated by what your wishes and your desires are. As I go through the
presentation tonight if you please hold your questions until I get through with the
presentation then we'll open up the meeting into a public hearing and you can ask all
the questions that you want. We have several of our department heads here tonight
and hopefully they can answer any questions that I can't answer or that don't get
answered in the presentation. With that, ('II kick it off here. The agenda tonight that
we're going to cover is I'm going to give you a little bit of, some history and some
legislation that was passed that kind of limits the city's ability to raise the necessary
funds to provide the services. We're also going to review some of our mill levy rates
right now. Hopefully give you an understanding of how the mill levy rates tie into what
your taxes are. Then we're also going to talk about where we Meridian is lacking in
services and then if this mill levy election is successful, what those additional
revenues are generated as a result of that, what those will fund. The very last thing is
Item 3.
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 2
we'll close off with where you go to vote. Whether you vote in favor or against it, you
still need to vote. That's your right as an American citizen so hopefully you'll exercise
that. I guess the first thing is to give you a little bit of history. It was kind of about in
the late 70s. I call it kind of a tax payer revolt and some of you are old enough to
remember that. There's was something that was passed called the one percent
initiative. That one percent initiative, I think was just citizens getting fed up with
ridiculous increases in the taxes and there was nothing in the state law that
prohibited taxing districts at that time from raising their mill levy to whatever they
wanted. If they wanted to increase it 100 percent they could. We as taxpayers ended
up having to just foot the bill of that. I think the citizens go tired of that so they voted
something into being called the one percent initiative. As a result of that one percent
initiative I know that governments were really put in a strangle hold and as a result of
that a lot of services were cut that use to be provided by the government. Some of
those probably unnecessarily but some of those were necessary services that ended
up getting cut as a result of that. Running behind here. In the early 80s because of a
result of that a lot the cities and the taxing districts were finding that they just couldn't
keep up with any of the growth. If you're limited to a one percent increase in your
budget each year, we all know what the cost of inflation is doing and we know what
the fuel prices that are sky rocketing right now and the utilities, the electrical bills, the
natural gas, even our telephones, our salaries food everything is costing more. The
one percent limitation was just putting a strangle hold on the taxing districts. They
went back to the legislature and they ask them to try to provide some type of a relief
from this one percent initiative. As a result, the legislature passed a 3 percent cap.
For those of you who aren't familiar with how that works, basically what it says is that
whatever you receive from property taxes this year, whatever the City of Meridian
collects is from property tax. We are limited by law that we can only increase that by
3 percent. I think the reason they came to that conclusion and how they derived that
is taking inflationary numbers that we all know and if we look at consumer price index
things and those types of indicators, those usually are somewhere around 2and a
half, 3 maybe as high as 4 percent. They capped what the city could raise their taxes
each year and when I say taxes I'm talking about property taxes there. I think that
worked fairly well for us all through the 80s. Through the 80s we were experiencing
very limited growth. Then the 90s came and that's when things started to happen and
I don't know what it was but all of a sudden Idaho got discovered. I know that you
folks that have lived here a while realize just what a wonderful treasure we have here
in Idaho but somebody else found out too. People started coming in droves and our
population started exploding. The City of Meridian has now become one of the
largest cities in the state of Idaho. In the last census that was taken back in 1990,not
the last one, the most current one. In 1990 the City of Meridian was the 12th largest
city in the state of Idaho. In this last one that they did in the year 2000, Meridian
moved from 1zth up to 5th. We're only behind Boise, Nampa, Idaho Falls, and
Pocatello. That means that we're bigger than Twin Falls and Lewiston and Caldwell
and Coeur D'Alene. I don't think a lot of people realize that but we are. We're the fifth
largest city now. As this chart up here on the wall shows you, we show you the
populations of those cities and Meridian like I said now being the 5th largest city.
We're very comparable in population to the cities of Twin Falls and Coeur D'Alene.
Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 3
They're both right around that 34 35,000 people too. I think we're probably a little bit
higher than that because those numbers are about a year and a half old now just by
the time they get the census numbers out to us. The interesting thing too is I don't
know how well you can see the chart on the wall but there's the mill levy rates for
those other larger cities in Idaho. When you look at those mill levies Meridian has one
of the lowest ones. Did we get the hand out Stacy? There's handouts out on the table
if you want to get those and you can see those numbers and that too. If we look at
some of those other cities that are even close to Meridian, Twin Falls for example
their mill levy is .0071. Coeur D'A1ene is .0055 and Meridian a .0031. I'll explain to
you the significance of what those numbers are here in just a few minutes. In addition
to the city mill levy ratet when you guys get your property tax bills and when I get my
property tax bill it has all these other taxing districts that are up here on the board too.
Ada County as the county still charges you a mill levy and part of your tax dollars are
still going to Ada County as well as the Ada County Emergency Medical Service
which is the ambulance service that services Ada County and that's who you call in
addition to the fire department and they end up transporting you to the local
hospitals. Ada County Highway District is getting a portion of your tax dollars and
then the biggest one that you can see on there is the school district and Meridian is
surrounded by the Meridian school district and you can see that their mill levy rate is
a .0067. The school district mill levy is actually larger than a lot of those largest cities
that we saw in the previous slide that we were looking at. The Meridian Library
district. A lot of people get confused and they think because it says Meridian on it that
that library is run by the City of Meridian. It's not. It's a separate district and they have
their own board on the library and they do all their own funding and we have nothing
to do with them. The Meridian City is part of your tax bill. Again our mill levy that's
.003180 and you can carry that out some more decimal points if you want. The
Meridian Cemetery district. There's a mosquito abatement district and then the
Western Ada Recreation District. In Meridian here the Western Ada Recreation
District actually owns the swimming pool down here in Storey Park. They own that
property and the swimming pool. They also own the Parkside creek, the park out
there, Fuller Park in the back of Parkside Creek subdivision. I couldn't remember the
name of it because I live in that subdivision. I'm so far away from it you know. Here's
the thing that's causing the problem for us. If you look on this chart here. I told you
that in the 80s we were doing pretty good with the restrictions that the legislature put
on us of the 3 percent cap. If you look at our increase in population there from 1980
to 1990 we had about a 46 percent increase in population. If you average that 46 out
over a 10.year period we were increasing at about a 4 and a half percent increase
each year in population. That equates pretty good with that 3 percent cap that the
legislature put on us. That's why I say we were doing fairly good at keeping up. Right
there in 1990 and you can see how the chart takes off at that point. That's when
Idaho got discovered and that's when Meridian got discovered and in the last 10
years Meridian experienced a 264 percent in population. I mean that's just
staggering. That is, I think we were the second highest. There was one small
community up in the mountains that had about 3 people and 3 more moved in so
they beat us or something. As far as large cities this is just a phenomenal number to
see that our population increased 264 percent in a 1 O-year period. If you break those
Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 4
numbers out, what that comes out to is about a 26 percent increase every year in
population. Now remember the state legislature capped us at about a 3 percent but
we're growing by 26 percent. That left us really scrounging around to try to find
alternative funding solutions. Here's a comparison of the growth in a bar chart so that
you can see that the lower part of each, the light blue, that was the growth that was
experienced during the 1980s. That pink part is the part that went form 1990 to 2000.
Those are those 10 other largest cities in the state of Idaho. You can see Meridian in
the center there with the column. That was our population growth compared to
everybody else. Just some statistics about that growth in the last 10 years, I've
already told you Meridian went from 12th to the SUi largest city in the state. Our fire
department, their run volume doubled in that time> Instead of a little over a thousand
calls they respond to over 2 thousand calls and I think the numbers today are well up
over 2600, somewhere around there. Police department and these are actual
incidents that the officers responded to, went from over 2,000 to well over 6,600 in
that period. Another tid bit just the school district to handle all the kids that were
coming into the area went from 19 schools to over 32 schools. The city issued over
293 commercial building permits in that time and over 8700 almost 8800 residential
building permits in that 10 year period. Where has Meridian been falling behind?
Well, I think it's pretty easy for us to see after looking at it a little bit. One of the first
and most important areas is public safety. I've been on the City Council about 3 years
now and one of the reasons why I ran was out of a deep concern for public safety
issues in the City of Meridian. I firmly believe that public safety is one of the most
important services that a city provides to its citizens. Without police and fire
protection we'd be in serious trouble. If you looked at any city, anywhere across the
country and anywhere in Idaho the most part of their tax dollars and the most part of
their budget, the largest part of their budget is going to fund those two critical
services. The other area where we see that we're falling behind is in park space and
recreational opportunities. The reason that this plays in here and the reason that this
is so important is when we start talking about quality of life in a community. Yes we
need to have the police and fire, those are essential services but do we just want the
police and firemen because they're there to respond to shootings and knifings and
fights and riots and those types of things. If we don't offer our citizens recreational
opportunities then that's when our city starts to turn more violent because there's less
activities for our youth to do and less things for our citizens to be involved in. We
really feel that keeping a low crime rate goes hand and hand with providing parks
and recreational space and the opportunities for the youth and for the citizens of the
community. So those 3 areas are the areas that we and with a lot of input from
citizens have come up with that are the areas where Meridian is really starting to fall
behind. To give you a little more detailed example, in the police department here, our
goal is to have 1.5 officers per thousand residents in the community. We're well short
of that goal. The average right now is 1.3 officers per thousand. This leaves us about
7 officers short at the present time. The cost for hiring a new officer is somewhere
around $70,000.00 to hire him, to pay his insurance benefits and his retirement and
to equip him and to buy the vehicle he needs to do his patrol work in and those types
of things. These are some average costs. The other thing that's quite alarming is the
response time for both the police and the fire department. As we grow and as we
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
PageS
become more congested those response times are increasing and without more
officers on the streets and without more fire stations strategically located within our
community those response times go up. As those response times go up so do the
dangers to the citizens. That means more damage is going to be done if a fire occurs
in your home. If there's a burglar breaking into your house or if there's a violent crime
being committed against you 2 or 3 minutes difference that it takes for the emergency
services people to get there could make a difference in life and death or whether you
lose your home and some of those types of things. Those response times are very
critical for both those departments. In the fire department, 3 to 5 minute response
. . time is critical for them to be able to do their job. If someone was to have a heart
attack and stop breathing if they don't get that person resuscitated within 4 to 6
minutes there's going to be brain damage and most likely it's going to be irreversible
and that person is not going to be saved. Those are critical things that we want to try
to stay with. Right now in the fire department if you live in the City of Meridian the
average response time is 7 minutes. We don't meet what our goal should be at this
time. I don't think every citizen knows and I don't think a lot of citizens take the time
to understand that. Currently, We're just getting ready to open our second fire station.
If you haven't noticed there's a new fire station been built out on Ten Mile road
between Cherry Lane and Ustick. With the opening of that fire station we're hiring 6
additional people. That's what's bringing this number to 20 because before that, we
only had 14 people. That's going to help with those response times, those 7 minute
response times. There's still additional need there. We recently had a consultant do a
survey and evaluate the fire department and his recommendation was at the present
time we should have 3 fire stations and should have 37 personnel. The cost of
building a new fire station is roughly around $800,000.00 and then it takes about
$500,000.00 in operational costs. To pay those fire fighters' salaries and to buy the
fuel and to keep the lights on and all the equipment that's needed. In addition those
new pumper trucks you se running up and down the road are about $300,000.00 so I
guess you know these numbers are thrown in thereto give you guys some ideas of
some of the cost involved. In the parks department, our surrounding cities Boise,
Nampa, Caldwell, they average 7.7 acres of parkland per thousand residents. The
City of Meridian our average is 2.8, well below the averages. This leaves us about
170 acres short of where we ought to be. To purchase and develop one acre of park
land is about $80,000.00 so if we were to take that 170 acres that we're short at
present time and take it times the average cost of development for park land we're
about 13 and a half million dollars short of where our neighboring communities are.
Whoops. I messed up here. I've got to go back up. That was a short presentation. I
pushed the wrong button. Okay. Let me get you back on track here. We just talked
about the parks. Now I want to explain to you a little bit about the City of Meridian and
our finances. Some people look at our budget and they don't exactly understand how
a city's budget works and believe me, I've been on it 3 years and I'm just now kind of
starting to figure out how it works. I'm still not sure I've got it 100 percent down. The
city has actually 2 separate funds that we work out of. One is called the enterprise
fund and that enterprise fund funds basically our public works department, our
wastewater treatment plant, our water department, and our utility billings and
collection department. The enterprise funds, that side of our business, that part of it is
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 6
a self~funding operation. We don't use any tax dollars no property taxes used to fund
that part of our operation. It is funded by new growth, by new development, by fees
that we charge for the water that's delivered, for the sewer charges that everybody's
charged every month. It's kind of a self-funding side of our government. The general
fund is the one that funds the public safety, the police and the fire and also the parks
and recreation department, our Planning and Zoning, our building department and
the administration that you see at City Hall, the folks that work here. That includes the
Mayor's office and the City Clerk's office and the finance person and the HR person
and all the people that it takes to run a city government. Those general funds, that's
where the property tax money is used. It's in the funding of the general fund so it's
only funding these departments that you see on the bottom side. I told you where we
were lacking is police fire and parks. When you look at that you can see where
they're funded out of. They're funded out of the general fund part of our budget. If we
look at our general revenue fund and we look at that a little bit more detailed it's not
just the property taxes that are funding that. Here's a break down. Our general
revenue fund for this current budget year that we're working on is 10 million dollars
but if you look over at the property tax which is the light blue that's about 47 percent
of that. That's 4.6 million dollars out of the 10 million that's actually being funded by
yours and mine property taxes, that mill levy that we talked about earlier. That's how
much of this city government gets paid by property taxes. The rest of that gets made
up from fees that we charge people and licenses. Building permits make up a big part
of that because we're also funding that building department. Every contractor that
builds a house and we charge those inspection fees, those are helping to fund that
building department. Really the building department is a lot self funded I mean
probably 100 percent self funded. We also get money from other government is a
variety of things. We get a portion of the state sales tax and that's based off your
population and things like that. They have state revenue sharing. We also have
franchise fees that we charge like to the cable TV company and the phone company
and Idaho Power and some of those utilities. So we charge them a franchise fee for
doing business in our town so we collect fees from that. We also have some other
creative things like in the fire department for example, we have an agreement with
the rural fire district that surrounds here, the city. We have a joint powers agreement
and they actually pay us close to a million. We buy the same fire trucks and it's the
same fire fighters that respond in both of those areas so that we can save the
taxpayers money and there's efficiency there in the government so that we're not
duplicating those services in close proximity. There's a lot of different places where
our revenues come from. Then obviously we have to have a certain amount of money
kind of in savings or reserve in case something goes wrong. If we were to have a fire
truck smash into a car or a police officer involved in a wrongful death suit and we
have to payout some claims or something like that. We have to have a balance, a
little bit in savings and the other thing is when our tax money comes due. We
basically have to operate from October to January just on our cash reserves because
that's when we start getting the money from the county as far as our actual taxes.
Here's a break down of your property taxes for the fiscal year 2001. The county
assessor's office they go around and they assess your properties every year and y'all
get the little tax notice from the assessor and it tells you how much your property was
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9. 2001
Page?
assessed at. In the year 2001 if you assessed all the property that was in Meridian's
area it was 1biUion 4hundred and 57 thousand 744thousand and 53 dollars. It's
actually a little bit higher than that. This is just the taxable value. What we have to
take off from that is, you have all heard of the fifty~fifty homeowner's exemption.
Probably most of you have that homeowner's exemption or if you don't you ought to
be taking it because it'll save you a little bit of money on your taxes. This number that
I'm showing you on the screen up there is after we've taken all those homeowner's
exemptions so the actual taxable value is much higher. This is just after we've taken
away all those other things. Now that mill levy that we kept talking about and
. . Meridian's is about half of what everybody else's is as far as cities around us and
cities that are comparable sizes. Our mill levy is .00 3180480. If you take this mill
levy, if you have a calculator you can take that mill levy number times that market
value at the top and that tells you how much money Meridian collects from property
taxes. I did that for you and there's that number that we just saw on the previous slide
4.6 million dollars. That's how much of our budget comes from the property taxes.
What I'm trying to do here is I'm trying to show you how that gets derived. Now the
next thing that I want to show you is the problem that was caused by the legislature
when they put the 3 percent cap on. The 3 percent cap I think was a good idea to
limit government's growth but the problem was they didn't think a lot about what
happens if we have a city that just experiences an enormous population boom like
Meridian did? Here's what happens. We just got last night at a meeting right here, the
county assessors were here and they gave us the new number for 2002 and that's an
estimated number. Look what happened that number went up. Our market value
went up a whole bunch. Now instead of 1.4 billion now we're 1,7 billion. What
happens is the number on the lower left hand column, the 4.6 million because of the
way the state law reads, the 3 percent cap says all you can do is get 3 percent more
money than that. How you figure out yore mill levy is the first thing you do is you take
3 percent times that 4.6 million. As we do that here's what happens. Three percent
more than the 4.6 is now we get 4.7 million. That's what we'll collect next year in
taxes. Then you divide that 4.7 million number by the taxable value and then your mill
levy gets established. What happened to our mill levy number? It just went from
0031, it just went down to 0026. That number just went even lower. Now we're even
further behind all those other cities. The reason that's doing that is because that
legislature didn't think about that. They didn't think about what's going to happen with
a city going with an explosive growth? Our mill levy is actually going down every year
because of the high growth. If we had a slow steady growth of 3 or 4 percent we
could probably maintain and manage on what we have. We're not able to when we're
experiencing 26percent growth a year. It causes our mill levy to go down every year.
It puts us in a real bind at trying to fund those essential selVices. What that means is
we get an additional 139,000 dollars over what we had last year. I showed you some
numbers earlier about what it cost to hire a police officer, roughly $70,000 to hire
him and pay hi benefits and equip him. With that money right there we could hire two
police officers in a year. That won't even get us close. We'll just keep falling further
and further behind in those national averages. That doesn't do anything at all to solve
the problem with the fire department or the parks department. Every year we're just
going further and further in the whole. There is a provision in the state law that allows
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 8
cities that have a mill levy than a .004 to make an adjustment. That adjustment is by
an election of the people. That's the point where we're at. We're here to ask you
people to turn out and vote and support an increase in our mill levy and bring it back
up to the 004. We]1I still be way underneath all those other cities in Idaho, the cities
that are comparable in size. We'll still have a lesser mill levy. You'll still be paying
less taxes to the City of Meridian than what those people in those towns are paying.
It'll help dig us out of a whole. How much additional revenue will it generate? Using
those 2001 figures that we had prior to last night because we just got those last night,
it will generate approximately a little over a million doUars in additional revenue from
, ,property taxes for us next year. In the hand out that you guys were given there's a
'little how to calculate what it would cost to you sheet. I just basically made that into
an overhead here so you could look at it. This would walk you through step by step. If
you follow that chart you could figure out if you got your last assessment how much
it's going to effect you. We just took some numbers here. We just took $100,000
property value and that's probably a pretty cheap house by today's standards I think.
If we use those numbers and let's say the lot had a value of $25,000 and the home
on it had a value of $75,000 so they total up to 100. That's the third line you se there.
Then if you have your 50-50 homeowner exemption and you have that applied to it
then you get to take half the amount of the structure not the land. That would take the
land price off. So, you get half the value of the home and the home was 75,000 so
half of the 75,000 is 37,500. If your home is valued at much higher, if you've got a 2
or 300,000 home the most you can take under that 50 - 50 exemption is $50,000.
That's what that next number is showing you. If you minus the allowable homeowner
exemption and then add the property back in your taxable value is 62,500. What
we're asking you for is an increase between the difference of 0031 to bring it up to a
40 mill levy. That really is the increase in levy rate that we're asking right down there
000820. That would mean a difference, you would pay $51.00 more in taxes on this
particular piece of property. If we divided that by 12 months that would mean $4.27. I
work in Nampa and quite often go down to the burger king or the McDonalds that's
one day's lunch for me. So when you break it down in that kind of detail it really
shows you that what we're asking, even though it sounds like a lot initially there it's
over a million dollars but when you break that down through all the properties it's a
very small per month increase. Now I know you don't pay your taxes on a monthly
basis. You pay that on a yearly basis. That's with the increase. What would that buy
you? Well, we've asked our department heads to kind of give us a break down of if
we had a million dollars more money and we kind of roughly broke that out 350,000
for police and 350 for fire and 300 for the parks. What could you do with that money?
Here's the answers that we got back. In the police department they could hire 3 new
officers and add 2 additional patrol cars, one evidence technician and a sergeant
position promoted for some of the youth division within their department. If you think
about what that, if we don't increase that mill levy, we got $139,000 to make any
improvements next year. In the fire department they could hire 3 new fire fighters,
one fire prevention inspector, the additional space that would be need to house them
and they could purchase land for a third station. In the parks department combining
this with some of the impact fee that we collect right now on new residential lots, that
would mean 25 acres of additional new park space could be purchased, new
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 9
equipment for Story Park, a more developed youth baseball complex, hire a grounds
keeper. All of those things police, fire parks that's what could be done next year and
that's what's being considered if this mill levy passes. If it doesn't we'll be looking at
trying to just hold our own. Just because of the cost of living increase we probably
won't be adding any staff. I guess, in conclusion again as I talked about it's your right
as an American to vote and we're hoping that you'll vote yes on this. I realize nobody
wants to pay more taxes. All of sitting up here are going to pay those same increases
in taxes you are. We feel that it's important to the community. I think that's Why we all
serve on here. I think you guys are here because you're concerned citizens. We want
to be able to provide vital services of law enforcement and fire and parks and rec to
you guys. We're asking you to come out and vote. I hope you do come out and vote
one way or another. In this election we have to have a 60 percent majority, It has to
be not a super majority but it has to be a larger majority than a 51 percent. It has to
be a 60 percent majority for this to pass. Where do you vote? There's a map on the
back of the hand out that you guys have. Depending on which of those districts
you're in, these are the 4 polling places. The American Legion Hall, if you don't know
where it's at, it's just across Meridian Road kitty corner over here from the fire station.
Meridian City Hall would be the other one, right here. The library, you know where
that's at on Cherry Lane. Locust Grove Grange, Keith help me out, that's south of
town?
Bird: South on Victory Road.
Anderson: I think that the addresses are all on there too. That is the end. At this time
I guess we'll turn it over for questions and I'll go back up and sit down and then
maybe we can all (inaudible) or we have our department heads here that could
answer questions about the need for this.
Item 4.
Questions and Comments:
Bird: Mr. Mayor
Corrie: Yes, Mr. Bird
Bird: Could I make one statement?
Corrie: Sure.
Bird: That 40 mill levy that we're asking fOf, that would only last, the 40 would only be
one year as long as we keep the growth up that we're growing. It will start coming
back down out of the 40. It is not set, like the slide that Ron showed by our market
value but we could only go up 3 percent each year and as the market goes up it'll
start coming don 39, 38 and down like that. It won't stay up at 40 as long as we grow
like we are growing.
(inaudible discussion)
Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 10
Bird: It will come start coming back so, yes the first year the 427 a month on that
house is right but every year after that as long as we continue to grow it will start
coming down. It's like we're suppose to be at 34 now and we're at 31 and if we don't
get this increase we'll be at 26 next year. I just wanted to bring that out to make sure
that everybody understands that even though we're asking for a 40 that would only
last the fiscal year 2002 unless we have no growth which I don't see that.
Corrie: In order to get this all on tape and then it will be transcribed, I would like to
have if you have questions which I hope you do, we're going to have to have you
come up to the stand, identify yourself and if you'd like a copy of what went on here
tonight and everything that was said we can make sure you get one of that as well.
So everybody can hear as well we need you to come up here and we'll answer the
questions. This is open to the public. We're here to answer any questions you might
have.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor
Corrie: Yes Mr. -
Anderson: It doesn't have to be a question too. If you just have a comment whether
you support it or don't support it you know we welcome you to bring those comments
forward too.
(inaudible discussion)
Corrie: Yes sir?
Robinson: My name is Floyd Robinson. I live in Mallard landing. When I received
your letter inviting me to this meeting I read it very carefully. When I got down to the
next to the last paragraph I was insulted. It says and I will quote public safety is our
first priority, maintaining a safe and secure city to enjoy and raise your families. I live
in Mallard Landing. I moved here 5 years ago. When I moved into Mallard Landing it
was 200 250 families. It's a dead end street. I was told within 6 months there would
be another egress. I still live there and there's over 550 families and a brand new
school and we're still a dead end street. Now you've got a fire Marshall over there?
How many businesses do you have that have only one exit? There aren't any
because the law says you have to have two exits. How many buildings do you have
that have public buildings that have to have doors that open out because of safety?
Every one of - We live in a dead end street. I'm only asking that you do something
about it. Get off your butts and do something about it. Thank you.
Bird: Thank you.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor
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Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 11
Corrie: Mr. Anderson
Anderson:' I just wanted to respond to it. It's kind of like the library district too. I'm not
sure everybody understands this but when I was showing the mill levies up there.
Ada County Highway District is the one who's in charge of roads and building roads.
We do not have funds and we don not oversee going out and building roads. The
only thing that happens is, unless another subdivision comes in where they are going
to go off of that and develop then Ada County Highway District could ask them to
connect. It may be something that until another development comes through there or
maybe you need to talk -
Robinson: Excuse me. You're passing the buck. You guys allowed the families to
come in by giving them the permits to build. If you will simply stop giving them
permits to build somebody else will get their job done. Because until they can make
money they're not going to do what we need them to do.
Corrie: Thank you.
Vernon: I'm Terry Vernon. I live in Crossroads Subdivision. Just to make sure I
understand this thing right. You're asking for the .000820 increase with the property
rates going up and everything bringing the mill levy down to .002. You're actually
asking for a higher increase than that by bringing it up to .04.
Anderson: No. That 00082 is the difference between the 31 and the 40.
Vernon: Right what it is now. You mentioned it's going to drop down to .002 with the
property values increasing as per the county assessor which means the increase is
actually .01, or .00130374. Where they're going to limit it to the 40.
Bird: I see what-
Anderson: Bottom line is it would be a 40 0040 -
Vernon: from last year.
Anderson: -- from yeah whatever your. We just have to pick some numbers and like I
was telling you that number and maybe I shouldn't have even thrown it in. That's a
projection of what it will be next year. That's not a hard and fast number yet. What
Keith is saying is exactly right. It will bump to the 0040 for one year and then as long
as we're still experiencing high growth it will continue to nudge back down again to
the point where maybe in another 10 years it'll be back down below 2 something
again.
Vernon: I understand that. I see with the property values going up it's going to
increase (inaudible) with a .03, what it is right now. So, basically with raising it to .04
{'
'<.
Meridian City Council Special Meeting
May 9, 2001
Page 12
is going to make it even more on top of that so you will get higher increases. There
may not be a need for that high increase on property tax.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. Actually though, what the City of Meridian mill levy, on the books, we
are suppose to be at 34. If we had had no growth since 1990, we would be at 34.
*** End of Side One ***
Bird: Four point or six points. Sure this like I said the first year you're going to get hit
. . that 427 on that sample he had up there. As long as the growth continues you'll get
back down. If the growth continues the next 10 years, we probably, your mill levy will
probably be down around 34. Yeah if we stay, if this don't pass, you're talking about
a .26 mill levy. Yeah that's a big increase. You're taking about 14 points from there to
what it would be this year and that's an estimate up to 40.
Corrie: The only reason that mill levy could possibly go down is because of the 3
percent cap. We can't go over 3 percent in any property tax level. That's why the mill
levy drops every year. The population grows, the taxes coming in grows, we still
cannot go over 3 percent regardless. That's when the mill levy drops.
Anderson: If we were actually even froze where we're at right now with the, 0032 or
31, next year instead of 139,000 we would have close to $600,000. But because of
that cap we actually, we can't even stay where we]re at. We lose ground.
Voigt: Michelle Voigt and I live in (inaudible) Manor. I have 2 questions. Okay. I
support it but how is it going to be guaranteed not to change the amount that each
department gets since the council members change upon election? Is it written down
in concrete that -?
Bird: Can't. We can't do it.
Voigt: So, in other words the council could change it to be parks one dollar and you
know et cetera -
Bird: That's very true Michelle. But this council can't indebt another councilor make
another council say how they're going to split the budget. It's a year to year thing. I
don't see anybody coming in here and doing that. All we can tell you the council here
and the Mayor that we have come up with, if it passes and we get his amount that
this year that's the way it's going to be.
Voigt: I mean to me it sounds fair you know as long as somebody doesn't you know
department gets it in the shorts or anything and everything. I personally feel that you
know I have come to a lot of them and I think that this council has done a lot of good
for the people and everything. I would like to see you know more citizens you know
involved in what's going on and everything. I do support it. We have to pay for what
MAYOR
Robert D. Corrie
HUB OF TREASURE VALLEY
A Good Place to Li ve
CITY OF MERIDIAN
LEGAL DEPARTMENT
(208) 288-2499 . Fax 288-2501
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Ron Anderson
Keith Bird
Tammy deWeerd
Cherie McCandless
33 EAST IDAHO
MERIDIAN, IDAHO 83642
(208) 888-4433 . Fax (208) 887-4813
City Clerk Office Fax (208) 888-4218
PUBLIC WORKS
BUILDING DEPARTMENT
(208) 887-2211 . Fax 887-1297
PLANNING AND ZONING
DEPARTMENT
(208) 884-5533 . Fax 888-6854
NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING
MERIDIAN CITY COUNCIL
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council of the City of Meridian
will hold a Special Meeting at City Hall, 33 East Idaho, Meridian, Idaho, on
Wednesday, May 9,2001 at 7:00 P.M. The Meridian City Council will make a
presentation before the public and citizens of the City of Meridian dealing with the
upcoming special election for increasing the mill levy.
The public is welcome to attend the special meeting and presentation.
DATED this 4th day of May, 2001.
8 7t;~ liL
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ROBERT D. CORRIE
Mayor.
HUB OF TREASURE VALLEY
A Good Place to Live
(
33 East Idaho
Meridian. Idaho 83642
Phone (208) 888-4433
FAX (208) 887-4813
City of Meridian
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
Dear Meridian City Residents,
On May 9, 2001, Meridian will have a public meeting and hearing on the proposed City of Meridian tax
levy increase. This meeting will explain the proposal and answer questions you might have of the Tuesday,
May 22, 2001 election.
Meridian's current levy of .00318 is one of the lowest in the Treasure Valley and below the state average.
The proposed increase to .0040 mills would cost the average homeowner in Meridian approximately $3.00
to $8.00 per month in additional property tax.
The current property tax revenue of $4,636,326.00 makes it almost impossible for the City to maintain and
offer basic public services of fire and police needed for the tremendous 264% growth increase from 1990 to
2000.
With the increase of the levy from .00318 to .0040 we would be able to generate approximately $1,000,000
additional revenue to be used for fire, police, and parks service.
Initially, police will receive approximately $350,000, being.used to add 3 new officers, 2 police cars, I
evidence technician, 1 new sergeant position.
Fire will receive approximately $350,000 being used to add 3 fire fighters, 1 Fire Prevention Inspector and
add two additional offices to Station 31 for support.
Parks will receive approximately $300,000 being used to purchase a 25 acre site south of Thousand Springs
subdivision, install new playground equipment at Storey Park, developing the new youth baseball complex
at the 58 acre park site, purchase a large mower that can be driven from park to"park, thus saving costs
related to maintenance and hire one new parks groundskeeper.
Public safety is our first priority in maintaining a safe and secure city to enjoy and raise our families.
Registered city voters will be able to vote on this issue at the general election on Tuesday, May 22,200 I.
We encourage you to attend the public hearing on Wednesday, May 9, 200 I at 7:00 PM at City Hall to
discuss this issue. If you are unable to attend, you may call the Mayor's office or any City Council person
to answer any question you might have.
Sincerely,
Robert D. Corrie
Mayor
Keith Bird, Cheri McCandless, Tammy deWeerd, Ron Anderson
Council Members
"1~ltIm\......
CITY of MERIDIAN - PROPOSED TAX lEVY INCREASE
INFORMA T/ON SHEET for PUBLIC MEETING AND HEARING
May 9, 2D01
OBJECTIVE:
Increase FY2002 Estimated Property Tax Levy from .00318 to .0040
Increase FY2002 Estimated Property Tax Dollars for the City of Meridian from $4,636,326 to $5,636,326
WHY:
EXISTING L!~VY RATE OF .00318 IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO FUND LEVEL OF SERVICES
NECESSARY FOR POPULATION SIZE
Meridian's Growth Compared to the "Top Ten" Cities of Idaho
102000 I
E11900
Boise Narnpa Pocatello IdahD Falls Meridian Coeur Twin Falls Lewiston CaI<:IYM1I Moscow
D'Alene
Levies for the "Top Ten" CIties of Idaho
COST:
* Homeowners will experience slight increase in monthly property tax payments
Le. First Year Property Tax Will Increase 8.2 Cents per $1 ,000 of Taxable Property Tax Value
Levy Increase will fund the following initial expenditures:
FIRE
* 3 new Fire Fighters
* 1 Fire Prevention Inspector
* Additional Office Space in Station #1
* Purchase Land for Station #3
POLICE
* 3 new Police Officers
* 2 additional Police Cars
* 1 Evidence Technician
* Sergeant Promotion for our Youth Department
PARKS
* Combine with Park Impact Fees to Purchase 25 Acres for a Future Parksite South of Thousand Springs Area
* Playground Equipment at Storey Park
* Industrial Mower
* Develop Youth Baseball Complex at the 58 acre Parksite
* 1 new Groundskeeper
LevyFactSheet2.x1s
CITY OF MERIDIAN
ESTIMATED PROPERTY TAX INCREASES AFTER MILL LEVY INCREASE
INCREASE LEVY RATE FROM .003180480 TO .00400000
RESIDENTIAL
Estimated Estimated
Property Value Land Value Exemption Taxable Value Annual Increase Monthly Increase
$50,000 $12,500 $18,750 $31 ,250 $25.63 $2.14
. . $75,000 $18,750 $28,125 $46,875 $38.44 $3.20
$85,000 $21,250 $31,875 $53,125 $43.56 $3.63
$90,000 $22,500 $33,750 $56,250 $46.13 $3.84
$100,000 $25,000 $37,500 $62,500 $51.25 $4.27
$110,000 $27,500 $41 ,250 $68,750 $56.38 $4.70
$120,000 $30,000 $45,000 $75,000 $61.50 $5.13
$130,000 $32,500 $48,750 $81,250 $66.63 $5.55
$140,000 $35,000 $50,000 $90,000 $73.80 $6.15
$150,000 $37,500 $50,000 $100,000 $82.00 $6.83
$160,000 $40,000 $50,000 $110,000 $90.20 $7.52
$170,000 $42,500 $50,000 $120,000 $98.40 $8.20
$180,000 $45,000 $50,000 $130,000 $106.60 $8.88
$190,000 $47,500 $50,000 $140,000 $114.80 $9.57
$200,000 $50,000 $50,000 $150,000 $123.00 $10.25
$210,000 $52,500 $50,000 $160,000 $131.20 $10.93
$220,000 $55,000 $50,000 $170,000 $139.40 $11.62
$230,000 $57,500 $50,000 $230,000 $188.60 $15.72
$240,000 $60,000 $50,000 $240,000 $196.80 $16.40
$250,000 $62,500 $50,000 $250,000 $205.00 $17.08
NONMRESIDENTIAL
$100,000 INCLUDED $100,000 $82 $6.83
$500,000 INCLUDED $500,000 $410 $34.17
$1,000,000 INCLUDED $1,000,000 $820 $68.33
$1,500,000 INCLUDED $1,500,000 $1,230 $102.50
$2,000,000 INCLUDED $2,000,000 $1,640 $136.67
$2,500,000 INCLUDED $2,500,000 $2,050 $170.83
$3,000,000 INCLUDED $3,000,000 $2,460 $205.00
$4,000,000 INCLUDED $4,000,000 $3,280 $273.33
$5,000,000 INCLUDED $5,000,000 $4,100 $341.67
$10,000,000 INCLUDED $10,000,000 $8,200 $683.33
ASSUMPTIONS
Land Value is approximately 25% of Property Value
CITY OF MERIDIAN
MILL LEVY INCREASE
ELECTION DATE MAY 22, 2001
CALCULATE YOUR PROJECTED PROPERTY TAX INCREASE IN FY
First Year Cost:
EXAMPLE
YOUR COST
1. Lot Value
$25,000
2. Add Improvement Value (The House)
$75,000
3. Property Value
$100,000
4. Times 50% of Improvement Value (#2)
$37,500
5. Maximum Homeowners Exemption
$50,000
6. Minus Allowable Homeowners Exemption
The lessor of line 4 or 5
$37,500
7. Equals Taxable Value
$62,500
8. Times The Increase in Levy Rate
0.000820
9. Equals First Year Levy Rate
$51.25
10. Divide by 12 to Get Estimated Monthly Increase
$4.27
I/O I'.
, l
Meridian City Ptuilary Roll Assessment Notice SumRlra.y
5/8/01
Total Meridian City Market Value
Total Meridian City Taxable Value
2001
C Total
2,207,970,000
1,771,154,634
2000
% Change
1,830,808,900
1,425,792,886
20.60%
24.22%
Residential
Residential Market Value 1,480,401,500
Residential Parcel Count 13,148
(Residential includes manufactured Homes)
1,318,255,7001
12,929/
12.30%
1.69%
Commercial
Commercial Market Value
. Comrherdal Parcel Count
(Commercial includes Personal Property)
727,568,500 512,553,2001 41.95%
1,690 1,4111 19.77%
New Construction
Comparison of Previous Year New
Construction
Residential
New Residential Count
Commercial
New Commercial Count
New Subs/Change Status
150,676,724 126,806,313 18.82%
73,582,024 65,047,500 13.12%
758
41,971,100 46,674,700 -10.08%
63
35,123,600 15,084,113 132.85%
Residential Property Tax Burden
Commercial Property Tax Burden
(Operating Property & Sub Roll Included in
calculation)
Assessment Notices
Assessment Notice Mailing Datel 5/28/011
61.60%
38.40%
5/29/001
RECEIVED
MAY - 8 2001
CITY OF MERIDIAN
ROBERT H. MCQUADE
ADA COUNTY ASSESSOR
650 MAIN ST., 4lh FI.
BOISE, ID 83702
'.ASS.ESSMENv-NOTICE' '
THIS IS NOT A BilL
DO NOT PAY.
& ESTIMATE OF TAX
PARCEL DESCRIPTION:
LOT 17 BLIC 1
CAPITOL MANOR
#94133300
For any questions, please notify the Assessor's Office immediately.
Assessor's Telephone Number: (208) 364-2400
PARCEL ADDRESS:
1234 ANYWHERE ST.
JOE TAXPAYER
JANE TAXPAYER
1234 ANYWHERB ST,
MERIDIAN, ID 83642
Appeals of your property value must be filed in
writing, on a form provided by the County, by:
June 25, 2001
Parcel Number:
R1234567890
Tax Code Area
03
ASSESSED VALUE OF YOUR PROPERTY
CURRENT DESCRIPTION LOTS/ACRES LAST YEAR'S VALUE CURRENT YEAR'S VALUE
RESIPENT LOT .200 18,000 18,000
RESIDENT BLDG 62,300 62,300
SUBTOTAL: 80,300 80,300
LESS HOMEOWNERS EXEMPTION: (31,150) (31,150)
NET TAXABLE PROPERTY VALUE: 49,150 49.150
These values may not include personal property values, Taxes are based on the values shown on this Notice and on the Budgets of the taxing districts.
ESTIMATED PROPERTY TAXES
TAXING DISTRICTS LAST YEAR'S TAXES CURRENT YEAR'S PHONE NUMBER DATE OF PUBLIC
ESTIMATED TAXES BUDGET HEARING
ADA COUNTY 146.47 146.47 364-2333
EMERGENCY MEPICAL 6.06 6.06 375-7048
ADA COUNTY HIGHWAY DIST 52.28 52.28 387-6120
SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2 331.29 331.29 888-6701
MERIDIAN LIBRARY 31.38 31.38 888 -4451
MERIDIAN CITY 156.32 156.32 888-4433
MERIDIAN CEMETERY 3.02 3.02 888-9549
MOSQUITO ABATEMENT 1.38 1.38 362 -1440
WESTERN ADA RECREATION 4.04 4.04 888-4081
SUBTOTAL: 732.24 732.24
FEES: 0.00 0.00
TOTAL PROPERTY TAXES & FEES: 732.24 732.24
THIS IS NOT A BILL. DO NOT PAY.
See tI1e back of this Notice for details,
RECEIVED
MAY - B 2001
CITY OF MERIDIAN
MAYOR
Robert D. Corrie
HUB OF TREASURE VALLEY
A Good Place to Live
LEGAL DEPARTMENT
(208) 288-2499 . Fax 288.250 I
PUBLIC WORKS
BUILDING DEPARTMENT
(208) 887-2211 . Fax 887-1297
PLANNING AND ZONING
DEPARTMENT
(208) 884-5533 . Fax 888-6854
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Ron Anderson
Keith Bird
Tammy deWeerd
Cherie McCandless
CITY OF MERIDIAN
33 EAST IDAHO
MERIDIAN, IDAHO 83642
(208) 888-4433 . Fax (208) 887-4813
City Clerk Office Fax (208) 888-4218
. Dear Meridian City Residents,
On May 9, 2001, Meridian will have a public meeting and hearing on the proposed City of Meridian tax
levy increase. This meeting will explain the proposal and answer question you might have of the Tuesday,
May 22, 2001 election.
Meridian's current levy of .00318 is one of the lowest in the Treasure Valley and below the state average.
The proposed increase to .0040 mills would cost the average homeomler in Meridian approximately $3.00
to $8.00 per month in additional property tax.
The Current property tax revenue of $4,636,326.00 makes it almost impossible for the City to maintain and
offer basic public services offire and police needed for the tremendous 264% growth increase from 1990 to
2000.
With the increase of the levy from .00318 to .0040 we would be able to generate approximately $1,000,000
additional revenue to be used for fire, police, and parks service.
Initially, police will receive approximately $350,000, being used to add 3 new officers, 2 police cars, I
evidence technician, 1 new sergeants position and support funding for the new positions.
Fire will receive approximately $350,000 being used to add 3 fire fighters, I Fire Prevention Inspector and
add two additional offices to Station 31 for support.
Parks will receive approximately $300,000 being used to purchase a 25 acre site south of Thousand Springs
subdivision, install new playground equipment at Storey Park, developing the new youth baseball complex
at the 58 acre park site, purchase a large mower that can be driven from park to park, thus saving costs
related to maintenance and hire one new parks groundskeeper.
Public safety is our first priority in maintaining a safe and secure city to enjoy and raise our fumilies.
Registered city voters will be able to vote on this issue at the general election on Tuesday, May 22, 200 I.
We encourage you to attend the public hearing on Wednesday, May 9,2001 at 7:00 PM at City Hall to
discuss this issue. If you are unable to attend, you may call the Mayor's office or any City Council person
to answer any question you might have.
Sincerely,
Robert D. Corrie'
Mayor
Keith Bird, Cheri McCandless, Tammy deWeerd. Ron Anderson
Council Members
(F(lf'l1ie iB:opk of J aafio
I
i
RECEIVED
MAY 1 0 2001
STATE TAX COMMISSION
ll{X) P<lrk Blvd.. Pl~z~ IV . Boise. ID . 83722
CITY OF MERIDIAN
May 9, 2001
William G. Berg, Jr.
Meridian City Clerk
33 East Idaho Avenue
Meridian, ID 83642
Subject: Ordinance No. 01-901
Dear Mr. Berg:
The Idaho State Tax Commission has reviewed and acknowledged the following action(s):
Ordinance No. 01-901
The above referenced ordinance is a re-zoning ordinance only and does not affect any taxing
districts. Therefore, this ordinance will not appear on the year 2002 tax code area maps.
Sincerely,
CC: County Assessor
County Clerk
Equal Opportunity Employer
Hearing Impaired Callers TDD 1-8()()-377-3529