By Sara Strong
The city of Luverne is anticipating a proposal to cut 40 percent of its Local Government Aid from the state.
LGA makes up $568,000 — or almost 60 percent — of the city’s general fund.
"That’s a lot of money, let’s not pretend that it’s not," City Administrator Matt Hylen said. "It’s a tremendous amount of money to the city."
Realizing that most small cities, various state agencies and numerous programs will lose funding this year, the Luverne City Council is still working to save some of those anticipated city cuts.
Hylen said that Luverne could be in a worse situation. Thanks to good financial planning, the city has some options to get by in the short term.
Mayor Glen Gust said LGA is an area that lobbying could be worth the effort. "It’s nice to be making contacts with legislators and they’re probably going to be overwhelmed, but a letter from the council might be good. We can tell them that we’ve already done our budget and were counting on that aid."
Councilman David Hauge said he’s sure Luverne isn’t the only funding recipient taking that approach. "Everyone’s pressuring the government to cut spending, but ‘not my spending.’"
Gust also suggested the city put off some capital improvements, or look into grants for one-time purchases or for services such as law enforcement.
Wastewater issues
The city of Luverne is in the middle of a statewide disagreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Luverne’s wastewater treatment plant was upgraded to an A class, from a B. The new designation means that it’s a more sophisticated system and requires operators with higher certifications.
Manager Al Lais is in the process of testing for a Class A license, which one employee is required to have.
In addition to the Class A issues, Luverne also has to come up with a phosphorous management plan and meet more state regulations, enforced by the MPCA.
All cities renewing permits have to make the plan. (Phosphorous comes primarily from detergents and soaps.)
A phosphorous management plan means the city has to outline how it will test for phosphorous, and if it finds too much, it will have to find the source and develop a plan to reduce it.
The plan and its implementation comes with a cost. The city of Worthington, for example, spends $200 to $300 a day just on chemicals to neutralize phosphorous in wastewater.
The MPCA has said that the phosphorous limit is three parts per million. Luverne’s is at four parts per million and hasn’t seen negative effects on plants or animals in the river.
A group of cities is considering a lawsuit asking the MPCA to better define its rules and explain the reasons for them. For instance, the MPCA is asked to show the true effects of four phosphorous parts per million in the Rock River.
City Utility Coordinator Red Arndt said, "We want to make the MPCA tell us why, make them accountable for their actions and rules. … We should be held accountable for our water, but we should know why we have to do what we need to do."
Arndt said the city’s working relationship with MPCA has been positive in the past and he wants to keep contact with its representatives.
What’s called the Total Maximum Daily Load Rule has been labeled "defective" by attorneys representing the group of Minnesota cities: It says the rules are vague in language; overbroad, including all water bodies in the state regardless of size or function; arbitrary and capricious, giving the MPCA discretion to use informal guidance materials and "professional judgment" to determine when and how rules apply; and beyond the MPCA’s regulatory authority, allowing the MPCA to regulate conditions not caused by pollutants.
Once the TMDL rules are adopted, cities who are cited for not complying with them can’t contest citations based on the rules. In the eyes of the law, the time to change the TMDL rules is before they are finalized, not after a citation.
The city of Luverne pays a few thousand dollars a year for these legal services.