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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, December 03,2012 Page 12 Mr. Wakefield advised that he was appealing the Ramsey County assessed val- ue of the home, going from $214,000 to $270,000 after the kitchen remodel. However, Mr. Wakefield advised that when refinancing after the remodel, the bank would only finance on a value of$240,000 appraisal. Mr. Wakefield questioned the process for appealing his City and property tax increase. Mayor Roe closed the Public Hearing at approximately 7:33 p.m. with no one else appearing. At the request of Mayor Roe, Councilmember Willmus advised Mr. Wakefield on how to go about appealing the valuation of his home by Ramsey County, based on the particulars provided. Mr. Willmus reviewed timing, process and contacts for filing an appeal on the revised appraised value and the significance of the market value shift and 34% impact on his property taxes. Councilmember McGehee noted that instructions were also included on the back of the property tax statement; and suggested Mr. Wakefield may wish to check on line for comparable properties within a specific time frame. Coun- cilmember McGehee also noted that the impact for Mr. Wakefield, as well as other taxpayers, was also attributable to the shift in homestead exemption. Mayor Roe clarified percent changes in values for median value homes versus median values after the homestead exemption when applied. In response to Mr. Callaghan's comments about $31 million for parks, Mayor Roe clarified that these were items included in the Parks Master Plan, and may include costs for a community center. However, Mayor Roe advised that, as of this moment, there were not concrete plans to do any of those additional things listed until further community discussions were held; and a subsequent future City Council discussion. Mayor Roe advised that this represented a desired plan versus actual reality. Mayor Roe noted that more accurate numbers would be available after the first few years experience with the CIP. Regarding Mr. Callaghan's comments regarding TIF of projects in the Twin Lakes area, Mayor Roe advised that those funds came from TIF funds already collected and restricted to costs for development-related expenses. Mayor Roe advised that these already collected funds had already been collected from de- veloped properties —based on the difference in tax paid before and after devel- opment — and placed in a pool for those specific expenses. Regarding the per- ception that this was money the community could have received, Mayor Roe noted the overall concept in TIF being that a project would not proceed without use of TIF; all obviously open to individual interpretation and opinion.