CCP 08-09-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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< . SAINT PAUL PIONEER PRESS FRIDAY. AUGUST 6. 1993: School officials defend:. l ....' , -- proposed tax (Increase : MATTlfEW G. DAVIS STAFF WRrTER raised by no more than 3 percent : to 5 percent . .-;: S But scllool board member Mary . t Paul public school officials Thornton Phillips argued thaf an : on Thursday defended a proposed iIlcreasing enrollment gives the : 14.8 percent property tax in- met no other choice. . crease, saying anything less would "When children come into the not allow the scllools to adequate- 001 district, they must.. be ly educate a growing number of served." she said. "We've conimit- . students. ted ourselves to excellence. Excel- The proposed school tax in. lence has a price. Any number crease and smaller increases pro- that approaches '3 to 5 says we posed by Ramsey County and the may be doing things in St Paul city mean property taxes would go: schools, but it's not excellence.";'- _ up by ahout 9.1 percent for Sl The county's proposed tax. in- : Paul residents. : crease is 5.3 percent; the city's is . The possihle increase was made 4.4 percent. ;.. . puhlic last month during the first Scheibel said it is possihle the : meeting of the new Joint Property city eventually will approve a tax Tax Advisory Committee. The increase lower than the 4.4 per- .committee met again Thursday cent now proposed. '-" . and approved a resolution saying Though many officials at the. the total tax impact will not be meeting Thursday called the 9.1:. more than the 9.1 percent. percent figure unacceptable, no- St Paul Mayor Jim Scheibel fa- one except Rettman and Scheiber vored a resolution capping the to- estimated how much the total m< tal tax increase at 8 percent, but creas.. should be. . :. he couldn't get a second for his Rep. Howard Orenstein, DFL-Sl" motion. Paul, whose legislation created the~ The resolution setting the 9.1 committee. said the group should-.. percent limit has no hinding legal have sought more public input h.,..:.:. power, hut it is a benchmark from fore voting Thursday. ::: which the three taxing bodies will "1 think it was a slap in the face- prepare their budgets for the com- to the public that there was nOC. ing year. time allotted on the sclledule fnC SI. Paul City Council Member public testimony," he said. "T~ Janice Rettman. 5th Ward. argued law requires public input, and that- . vehemently against the resolution. input should have come before: , She said total taxes should be vutes were taken." :':.. ::: - .