[MissoulaGov] Committee Update 9-30-09 Bikes on Sidewalks

[Pam Walzer]

All,

Thank you all for this discussion - and those past. I rarely chime in,
rather I prefer listen to what this participating community is saying. Much
has been said in this conversation that I finally would like to add to or
clarify.

To put into perspective how much the City of Missoula collects in taxes on
residential properties, and therefore what a "large tax break" that Jeremy
Hood suggested would look like, I took a gander at my last year's property
tax bill. I have a modest home in the Westside. Probably overpriced due to
its location and very grateful to have purchased it when it was truly
affordable. I'm guessing it's tue, open market value is now on the high end
of today's "affordable" to low side of median price for Missoula.

For all that the City of Missoula provides me: fire, police, streets - with
or without potholes, traffic lights, snow and leaf removal, parks, open
space protection, zoning protection to make sure a tire manufacturer doesn't
open up next door to me, on and on .... I paid $403.08 last year in
*CITY*taxes, or $33.59 per month. That's less than my satellite TV
bill! I also
gladly paid an additional $71.25 per year in a permenant SID to pay for
extra neighborhood street and alley lighting - although much of that goes to
Northwestern to rent the light poles. So for less than $40/month in taxes to
the City of Missoula, I get all the services, tangible and intangible, that
the city provides to its citizens, businesses and visitors (who, by the
way, pay NO direct taxes to the city).

To follow one of Jeremy's ideas (which is similar to many others about the
value of tax breaks) - let's give owners of rental properties a break in
their city taxes so they can pass it off in lower rentals.  Reducing the
rent on property like mine $40/month is not going to make it any more
affordable to rent (or even own). In the mean time, the city would no longer
have all of those small, individual revenues to provide for those myriad of
services we all need or want. If we, as a community, want all of those
things that the city provides, then who is going to pay? Increase the taxes
on owner occupied homes? Increase the property taxes on businesses? As much
as I want to do what I can support local business, I'm pretty sure the
courts would find it a constitutional problem with the city taxing Home
Depot more than Boyce Lumber, or REI or more than Trailhead. If you want to
support local, than do just that - spend your dollars at Quality Supply,
Orange St. Food Farm, downtown stores, etc... We are fortunate that we do
have numerous high quality and reasonably priced local and Montana based
businesses to choose from.

So how can the city solve some of the problems like real or perceived blight
on Brooks corridor or West Broadway or Russell St.? As Geoff Badenoch said,
the city has the MRA to encourage and assist in the redevelopement of areas
like these around the city. But private business has to be willing and feel
that a profit can be made. Last night we passed the zoning ordinance
rewrite. A small part of that document provides zoning tools that will make
it easier for developers to do mixed use development. During the West
Broadway charette process, the consultants said that there was a significant
impediment to reaching the vision that the community saw for the area - we
did not have zoning that would allow the implementation of that vision.
Now we have that. Will West Broadway suddenly become the vision, with tree
lined streets with landscaped medians and lots of pedestrians and small
shops with apartments above with everyone smiling and happy and well
dressed? No, it will be a long evolutionary process, one that requires the
business community and the city government to continue to work together. The
city can't do it alone, but we can help the process. By having a plan and
providing tools with zoning and the MRA, we are helping the process along.

So what can the city do to improve the economy in Missoula? Besides what
Geoff B. and Jim McGraff have already listed that we actually do, I believe
we keep on doing what we do so well - keep Missoula a wonderful place to
live and do business. That means worrying about the minutia of daily living:
dogs at large, bears in dumpsters, cars speeding in neighborhoods, bikes
"speeding" on sidewalks, cars not providing bikes a safe share of the
road, bikes stopping or not at stop signs, people driving while distracted
by cell phones, boulevard tree maintenance. Some people find these things a
threat to their safety and well-being, others feel that they have a right
to act how they personally feel is safe and/or appropriate, others feel that
these are silly common sense or manners things and that the city should stay
out of it. What a wonderful society we would be it we ALL lived by the
golden rule. Very few, if any, laws would be necessary. But look into your
hearts and your actions, the actions of your neighbors, and "that idiot down
the street" and realize that essentially all we do on council is to try to
protect your and your neighbor's quality of life in the City of Missoula.
There is at least one thing, probably many, that the city regulates (or
doesn't!) that you feel is absolutely necessary. Likewise, I'm sure there is
at least one thing, probably many, that you think is a complete waste of
time and energy - but that just happens to be something that someone else
feels is extremely important for them. So the city council spends a lot of
time deciding how we, with very limited resources, can keep Missoula a
wonderful place to live and work while it grows and evolves over the years.

Thank you for your patience in my ruminating. It's obvious why I rarely
participate.

Pam Walzer,
Missoula City Council
Alderwoman, Ward 2
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