Jennifer Vogel
The Minnesota program that feeds state aid to cities will see a big boost in 2014, but local levies are still increasing as cities contend with rising costs and take on delayed road improvements and other projects. Read more →
MPR News How communities are facing the future
Local government finance
Dave PetersThe League of Minnesota Cities has posted a searchable database of hundreds of examples of collaboration among Minnesota’s cities. Read more →
Residents in Carlton and Thomson are voting Nov. 5 on whether the two cities should consolidate. They have been talking about a merger for years but started to move more quickly when heavy rains caused substantial flooding damage in Thomson in summer 2012. Read more →
A new book by the Brookings Institution argues that we have entered an era in which American cities take center stage. It holds lessons for rural America as well. Read more →
Motorists driving through Richfield might someday find Portland and Nicollet avenues in better shape. Hutchinson might put a new roof on its civic arena. The police station in Maplewood might be remodeled. South St. Paul could shore up the levy along the Mississippi River. Austin might update some of its police equipment. These are some Read more →
Minnesota cities will get an $80 million increase next year in Local Government Aid from the state under a provision in the tax bill that seems to be near legislative approval. The increase would bring the LGA total to $507.6 million for the year 2014. That’s nearly a 20 percent increase over this year and Read more →
Minnesota State Auditor Rebecca Otto’s annual report on city finances shows that the state’s cities continue to cut their spending in 2011.
Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposed formula for helping Minnesota cities with Local Government Aid makes the metro area a bigger winner than outstate in the long run.