Minnesota Independent » Winona

Local government aid cuts: Which cities will lose the most?

Paul Demko — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:35:35 +0000

Gov. Tim Pawlenty wants to cut nearly $200 million from the Local Government Aid program as part of his plan to eliminate the state’s $2.7 billion budget deficit. While the fiscal hit to the program is less than feared (Pawlenty had originally proposed whacking $450 million from LGA), it will still present a significant fiscal problem for cities across the state.

The proposed cuts are equivalent to 3.3 percent of the program’s funding in 2009 and 7.6 percent in 2010. Towns with populations under 1,000 are exempt from the cuts. Many municipalities in greater Minnesota with shrinking populations rely on LGA to bolster their finances, as do larger cities with high levels of poverty.

The League of Minnesota Cities has posted a spreadsheet breaking down Pawlenty’s proposed cuts to local government aid. While a city’s overall budget needs to be scrutinized in order to gauge the significance of the hit, in sheer dollar amounts here are the ten municipalities slated to lose the biggest chunks of change:

1. Minneapolis: $44.6 million in 2009; $102.4 million in 2010
2. St. Paul: $5 million in 2009; $11.6 million in 2010
3. Rochester: $1.7 million in 2009; $3.9 million in 2010
4. Duluth: $1.5 million in 2009; $3.5 million in 2010
5. St. Cloud: $1.2 million in 2009; $2.7 million in 2010
6. Winona: $531,000 in 2009; $1.2 million in 2010
7. Moorhead: $489,000 in 2009; $1.1 million in 2010
8. Brooklyn Center: $464,000 in 2009; $1.1 million in 2010
9. Owatonna, $454,000 in 2009; $1 million in 2010
10. Faribault: $392,000 in 2009; $905,000 in 2010

AM.MN: Slick! A Minnesota oil-spill mystery, just like in the Atlantic Ocean

Chris Steller — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:30:09 +0000

Just like in the Atlantic Ocean, where an oil slick came not from a downed Air France jet but from who-knows-what, officials in Minnesota want help explaining how 1,000 gallons of diesel got into the Mississippi River last week and stunk up Winona. Deck-chair detectives set on solving the mystery can take Skipperliner riverboats last used as ferries a year ago when the Interstate Bridge simultaneously appeared likely to collapse and on a postage stamp.

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

DULUTH: Locals claim best foreclosure-assistance outreach programs in the state. But consider the competition: Minneapolis boards up people in their own houses. [Duluth News Tribune; Star Tribune]

PIPESTONE: City reeling from green job losses. By October, Suzlon will employ only half the 324 workers who now manufacture wind-turbine blades at a plant built three years ago with free land and tax breaks from the city and state. [Worthington Daily Globe; Pipestone County Star]

LONG PRAIRIE: Paintball vandalism hits home. On an otherwise gray Sunday morning on Pinto Blvd., residents woke to find fresh red splotches on numerous houses. [St. Cloud Times]

HIBBING: ‘Eclipse’ sighted. A 20-foot steel site-specific sculpture by hometown artist David Aho was unveiled outside the Hibbing Courthouse Annex Building. Anyone got a photo or is it too dangerous to look at, like the real thing? [Hibbing Daily Tribune]

STILLWATER: State patrol clamps down on Lift Bridge traffic. Truckers apparently have their own plan for the historic but nettlesome bridge: Wreck it by crossing in vehicles that are too tall or overweight by 5,000 pounds. [Stillwater Gazette]

STATEWIDE: New law letting cops stop cars for failure to wear seatbelts clicks in Tuesday. Hey, wait a sec: The Stillwater story cited above said, “Passenger vehicles were pulled over for seatbelt violations” — last Friday. [Minnesota Public Radio; Stillwater Gazette]

Symbol of decay? Closed Highway 43 bridge featured on new Minnesota postage stamp

Chris Steller — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:58:13 +0000

The Highway 43 bridge over the Mississippi River at Winona, Minn., became the latest symbol of Minnesota’s decaying infrastructure June 3 when the state Department of Transportation ordered it closed for at least six weeks due to possibly debilitating rust and corrosion. But the bridge was already a state symbol: Only 18 days before the shutdown, the United States Postal Service released a new stamp honoring Minnesota’s 150th birthday that prominently features the now-closed bridge.

MnDOT said inspectors discovered decay in the bridge’s gusset plates, including one that showed “some buckling” — akin to gusset plate “distortions” that triggered the March closure of the DeSoto Bridge over the Mississippi in St. Cloud. Gusset plate failure is a leading contender for causing last August’s collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, which also crossed the Mississippi River.

On May 16, the new postage stamp showing the bridge was unveiled at a Statehood Week event in Winona. The next day, dignitaries (including Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee member Joan Mondale and former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale) gathered under a tent at the State Capitol for a ceremony (video) celebrating the new USPS stamp that commemorates 150 years of Minnesota statehood.

Those who travel in the 11,600 vehicles that cross the span between Winona and Wisconsin each day may find it cheaper to buy a few new Minnesota stamps and conduct their business by mailing letters and packages rather than driving a half hour or more up or down river to the next nearest crossings.

Continued: Click “Read more”But MnDOT’s new PR- and engineering-savvy commissioner, Tom Sorel, would be wise to choose other new postage stamps, such as those honoring journalist Eric Sevareid or film star Bette Davis, rather than one that depicts the state’s third Mississippi River bridge to close or collapse during the last 10 months.

Richard Hamilton Smith, a Park Rapids, Minn., photographer, took the photo on the stamp, which joins the U.S. Mint’s commemorative quarters for New Hampshire and Maryland in featuring landmarks that soon afterward meet with trouble or worse: The Maryland Statehouse was struck by lightning, and New Hampshire’s “Old Man on the Mountain” rock formation collapsed.