Posted: 8/20/03

Linwood residents cut tax levy

Alice Pickering
Linwood Area Reporter

Linwood Township residents approved a tax levy of $900,000 for 2004 at the continuation of the annual township meeting Tuesday, Aug. 12. This is $138,000 less than the $1,038,000 requested by the town board.

In March supervisors originally proposed $1,138,000 levy but later reduced this to $1,038,000. This proposal was less than one percent higher than the 2003 levy of $1,031,677.

At last weekís meeting, residents asked to review funds separately before voting on the levy issue. Questions at the meeting had to do primarily with changes in road and bridge expenses and engineering expenses.

Funding for roads

Some were concerned about an apparent change in the way the township is paying for roads. In the past, street improvements have been assessed to adjacent property owners.

On recent projects the township has paid for some of the street work, specifically completion of drainage and street work in the West Martin Lake area. Mel Pfaffendorf, board chairman said the township could not ignore the problems there. Street improvements associated with Typo Creek Estates have been paid for, in part, by the developer.

Joe Dolphy, a former supervisor observed that from the 2002 to 2004 budget the road and bridge fund has nearly doubled. He does not want to see the township continue to pay for special projects.

It appears that the entire township is paying for roads, if there are no longer special assessments to cover improvements.

Others voiced the same concerns, particularly since in past years they had already been assessed for road improvements adjacent to respective properties. These residents said they do not now want their property tax money to pay for township-wide road improvements.

Benefit of improved value to a property has been the basis for having residents pay for improvements.

Attorney Gerald Randall said it is becoming more difficult to directly assess all costs to property owners for improvements. More frequently, in the courts, the opinions of property owners about perceived benefit to their land has had more weight than the opinions of registered appraisers.

Many cities and towns are paying for a greater part of road improvements on the premise the entire community benefits.

Some of the costs of building and improving streets are reimbursed as land is developed. Supervisor Dave Tryon said that even with the road work, Linwoodís property taxes are 86th out of 110 communities in the metropolitan area. Home valuations are high, but property taxes are relatively low, he said.

Before action on the levy, a motion to reduce the road and bridge budget and the parks budget by $100,000 and $30,000, respectively, died for lack of second.

Moderator Rich Gabrick said this could only be a recommendation, that a proportional reduction in the various departments might be a better move.

Even with improvements, Pfaffendorf pointed out that Linwood Township is debt free. Construction of the new fire station in 2002 was completed with unspent budgeted funds, saved over a number of years.

The next Linwood Annual Meeting was scheduled for 8:15 p.m., Tuesday, March 9, 2004.

About 35 residents attended the Aug. 12 meeting. There are about 2700 registered voters in the township.

Boettcher honored

At a reception before the meeting, friends and family recognized and thanked Vern Boettcher for his lifelong contributions to Linwood Township and the greater community. His wife Fern attended the celebration with him.

Pfaffendorf presented Boettcher with a commemorative plaque listing his numerous offices and years of service.

A resident of Linwood for 40 years, he served on the Planning and Zoning Committee for 29 years, 18 years as chairman. He has been a member of the Sunrise Watershed Commission for 19 years, serving as chair for 18 years.

His contribution of land to the project helped Anoka County complete CR-85.

Boettcher was chairman of the Forest Lake School Board for 15 of the 29 years he served on the board.

In addition, he has served on the Anoka Electric nominating committee, Isanti Co-op Feed Mill, and Airport Search Committee. Boettcher has farmed for 62 years on a family homestead purchased by his father in 1918.

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