Lobbyist to pursue tax for Palace renovation

By Sara QuamLuverne City Council members Tuesday voted in favor of paying a lobbyist to try to get a local option sales tax on the ballot.Council member Maynard Lafrenz voted against hiring the lobbyist, saying he doesn’t support a sales tax increase and doesn’t believe voters will either.The half cent sales tax would be applied to all goods already taxed. If the lobbyist is able to get legislative approval, and voters pass the tax, it could raise about $138,000 annually to go toward Palace Theatre renovations.The entire renovation, as planned now, will cost about $5.25 million.Lafrenz said, "A half-cent sales tax might drive shoppers away from downtown."Lafrenz said he had gotten a lot of feedback on the issue and he didn’t think enough people in the community would support the sales tax to warrant it being on the ballot.The lobbyist will be paid up to $15,000 to get legislative approval to put the issue on the ballot. Mayor Andy Steensma said, "Really, what we’re voting for is whether people can say they want it."Council member Bob Kaczrowski said the council should pursue it in order for real feedback to show on the ballot, not just word of mouth. Council member Esther Frakes, who has reservations about the project itself, said, "We need to move forward to explore this option, which will let the people speak. … As a public official I feel we owe it to the constituents to let them decide."Lafrenz said the city took over the Palace in order to be a pass-through agency for a grant, and he didn’t want to see it cost the public more and more money as time goes on. In other business Tuesday, the Council:
Voted to change the number of representatives on the Luverne Economic Development Authority from seven to five. It had been five for most of the board’s existence, but in recent years was changed to seven. Larry Wills and Nate Golla left the board, and the city will not refill those positions.
Amended the 2005 budget to reflect expenditures previously approved by the Council. They include a total of $111,270 in unbudgeted expenditures. City Administrator John Call said that when the entire general fund is looked at for the year, it still came out in the black, with the total revenues higher than expenditures. The extra expenses included in part city administrator recruitment and testing for $10,000; engineering costs associated with separation of the old hospital from the clinic and finding alternative uses of the old hospital for $18,500 and asbestos removal from the Main Street Dunkle building for $18,100.