Proposal to dissolve Minneapolis' oversight board advances

Critics say move could threaten funding for Minneapolis parks.

By STEVE BRANDT, Star Tribune

Last update: July 1, 2009 - 9:52 PM

A proposal to kill the board that oversees taxation, borrowing and auditing in Minneapolis advanced Wednesday at City Hall. But it also appeared to be picking up opposition from park supporters.

The city's Charter Commission approved the wording of charter amendments that, if voters approve, would place the functions of the Board of Estimate and Taxation in the hands of the City Council. The council now will vote on the summary wording to go before voters.

The current board consists of three representatives holding elective office in City Hall, two directly elected citizens and one Park Board representative. Advocates say the change would increase accountability for fiscal decisions in City Hall, while opponents say it potentially threatens park funding.

The commission lopsidedly rebuffed a request by the Park Board that it reconsider putting the measure on the ballot. It also decided overwhelmingly against advancing two charter proposals aimed at providing more financial stability for parks.

One would have guaranteed parks the same tax increase as the rest of city government and provided park construction projects with a proportionate share of city borrowing. The other would have given the Park Board a second seat on the Board of Estimate, filling an empty spot once occupied by a representative of the now-defunct Library Board.

The Park Board supported both of those charter proposals and was expected to further discuss the commission's actions at the board's meeting Wednesday night.

The developments raised the possibility that the Park Board, which mobilized enough opposition to head off a charter proposal that would have abolished it as an independent board, could swing that influence now against the Board of Estimate proposal.

Park advocates fear that by putting sole authority over setting and allocating tax increases in the hands of the City Council, parks they already regard as underfunded will suffer.

But charter commissioners said they want to see what voters do with the proposal to abolish the Board of Estimate before tinkering with whether its unfilled seat should be occupied by a park commissioner or a third directly elected citizen. The proposal to fill the seventh seat with a park commissioner was advanced by Carol Becker, one of the Board of Estimate citizen representatives, and former Council Member Pat Scott.

Some of the commissioners who opposed the proposal by Park Commissioner Scott Vreeland to write financial protections for parks into the charter argued that the move would too severely tie the hands of council members on policy issues.

Vreeland argues that even if the Park Board remains quasi-independent in the charter, its independence would be undermined if the allocation of tax increases to parks is handled solely by the council instead of the Board of Estimate.

Becker said that the board was carefully constructed to encourage compromise by giving none of the three blocs of members -- from the council, the park board and citizen representatives -- a majority of seats.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438

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