CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE
WEEKLY MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Rines, Councilors and Department Heads
FROM: Jeffrey Kobrock, City Manager
DATE: January 21, 2005
RE: Weekly Memo
Meetings for the Week of January 24, 2005
Council Meeting Thurs., Jan. 27, 6:30 pm, City Hall
We have been very busy recently issuing requests for proposals (RFP’s) and submitting grant proposals. In one day last week the City submitted four grants proposals! Every one of these proposals represent strong partnerships and long term strategies; the substance of these proposals is impressive, the implementation of any one of them will be doubly exciting! The grant proposals were:
Fund for Efficient Delivery of Local and Regional Services – Service Facility Collocation
CDBG Non Profit Development Program – Johnson Hall Renovation
CDBG Community Enterprise Program – Downtown Façade Program
CDBG Downtown Revitalization Program – Upper Floor Access Project
Earlier in January we issued a request for proposals for financial management services to provide support for the increased level and sophistication of city activities and on Monday the Johnson Hall Partnership will (Johnson Hall Inc., Board of Trade, Gardiner Main Street and the City) issue an RFP for a Johnson Hall Renovation Strategic Plan. Proposals for the financial management RFP are due Tuesday January 25 and proposals for the Johnson Hall project are due in March. These are such exciting steps we are taking toward major improvements in our community!
Tax Reform
Although tax reform is now history in the Legislature, it will be awhile before the dust settles at the local level. The school district is receiving very mixed information and is unable to analyze local impact at this time. The Homestead provision will have a significant impact upon the municipal side of the mil rate, as a $6,500 homestead exemption is now funded locally. We have not yet been able to calculate that impact, but last year’s Homestead Exemption (100% reimbursed, with values of $5,000 or $7,000 for valuations greater or lesser than $125,000 respectively) earned us a $210,000 state reimbursement, which is probably the ball park for the new cost associated with the just-adopted Homestead program. I will provide more detail on local impacts, as information becomes available.
In this packet
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