Date: Oct 24, 2007 West Central Tribune

Support grows for use of sales tax to pay for parking ramp to serve hospital, business area By David Little

    WILLMAR — Support is growing for the concept of extending or reauthorizing the local option sales tax to pay for construction of a downtown parking ramp to serve Rice Memorial Hospital and the central business district.

    The Willmar Design Center, the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission, and the Rice Memorial Hospital Board are supporting the use of the sales tax to finance the parking ramp for hospital patients, visitors and business customers.

    The Design Center and EDC sent letters of support for the sales tax Monday to Mayor Les Heitke. The letters were signed by Beverly Dougherty, Design Center project coordinator, and Steve Renquist, EDC executive director.

    Support has also come from the hospital board, which last week approved a resolution endorsing development of a parking ramp on hospital-owned land located south of Rice and asking the city to favorably consider using the sale tax to pay for the ramp.

    Besides supporting the sales tax idea for the parking ramp, the Design Center and EDC are supporting the concept of creating a special improvement district for the central business district.

    According to Dougherty and Renquist, all new property taxes could be used to pay for mutually beneficial projects such as the downtown commons area proposed by the Design Center for Block 50 — located behind Bethel Lutheran Church — and other projects.

    The letters of support were presented to the Willmar City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday by Dougherty when she and John Christianson, Design Center treasurer, made their quarterly report on Design Center activities to the committee.

    Because Rice is a regional hospital and because the parking ramp project will require considerable funding, the sales tax extension or reauthorization “was our best idea,’’ Dougherty said in a Tribune interview.

    “We want them to think about it before the time is up so that everybody’s behind this is what we’re going to do next,’’ she said.

    Dougherty acknowledged that the present sales tax is dedicated to four projects and would need to be extended or reauthorized to pay for the ramp project.

    Committee Chairman Denis Anderson said the committee would receive the letters as information.

    The 0.05 percent sales tax was approved by voters, authorized by the Legislature and went into effect on Jan. 1, 2006.

    Approval by voters and the Legislature would again be required to reauthorize the tax, said Steve Okins, city finance director.

    The sales tax and motor vehicle excise tax were proposed to raise $8 million over eight years, but the time period could be ended sooner if collections continue at the estimated pace of $1.5 million a year. So far, the tax has raised $2.7 million as of August 2007, said Okins.

    The tax was dedicated for industrial development, recreation trails, purchase of state land and Civic Center-Blue Line building connection.

    In other business Monday, Finance Committee members continued their discussion of the mayor’s proposed 2008 budget. Anderson asked committee members to look for areas where expenditure cuts could be made.

    No decisions were reached.

    Two weeks ago, the committee discussed the revenue side of the budget.

    The Finance Committee will make budget and levy recommendations during a joint meeting with other council members on Nov. 26 and at the regular council meeting on Dec. 3.