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July26,2022 <br />DearGovernorWalz,LieutenantGovernorFlanaganandLegislativeLeaders: <br />First,wewishtothanklegislatorsforundertakingananalysisofthestatelocalgovernmentaid <br />(LGA)formulaandappropriationlevelduringthe2022legislativesession.Weunderstandthat <br />formulamodificationswererecommendedbycityassociationsthatwouldhaveupdatedtheaid <br />formulatoensureitcontinuestoadequatelyreflectcityneeds.Localgovernmentaidisavery <br />importantsourceofrevenuetothecitiesweserve,andafundamentalcomponentofthestate <br />andlocalfiscalpartnershipthatourcitiesdependupon. <br />Areviewof2023aidestimatesshowsourcitieswilllosesignificantlocalgovernmentaidin <br />2023withoutmodificationstocurrentlawandtwowilllosedistributionsofapproximately$1 <br />millioneach,entirely.Theseareprecipitouslossesthatwillcreateadverseconsequencesfor <br />localservicesandtaxlevies.InourreviewboththeLGAproposaladvancedbytheHouseanda <br />ͷŷƚƌķŷğƩƒƌĻƭƭ͸billconsideredbytheSenatewouldhavepreventedsomeofthesteep <br />reductionsthatwilloccurin2023withoutastatutoryadjustmentthisyear. <br />Asarule,oldersuburbancommunitiesarenotpropertytaxwealthy,andtheyhaveagingand <br />diversepopulationsaswellasaginginfrastructure.Theserequirehigherlevelsofservicesand <br />publicinvestments.Ourcommunities,likeothers,arealsoaddressingacutelaborshortages, <br />particularlyinpublicsafetypersonnelthatrequiresadditionalresourcestoaddress.Ourcities <br />arealsoexperiencingquicklyrisingcostsduetoinflation,whichaffectseveryaspectofthe <br />servicesourcitiesprovide.Absentachangetotheaidformula,citieswilllikelybeforcedto <br />significantlyincreasepropertytaxlevies,atatimewhenresidentsmayleastbeabletoaffordit. <br />ofaddressing <br />Asyouconsiderholdingaspecialsession,wewouldaskthatyoukeeptheissue <br />thelocalgovernmentaidformulaattheforefrontofyourconsiderations.Withoutalegislative <br />change,manycitieswillbesignificantreductionsinaid.Oncethoseaidreductionsoccur,they <br />willbeverydifficulttoaddressorcorrectforinthefuture.Thisisanurgentissuethatweask <br />youtogiveyourattentiontothisyear. <br />Localgovernmentsvalueanddependuponastrongfiscalpartnershipwiththestate,andwe <br />thankyouforyourattentiontoourconcerns.Wewouldbehappytodiscussourconcerns <br />furtheratanytime. <br />Sincerely, <br /> <br />