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

Tue Oct 6 13:40:20 MDT 2009

Well-said, Pam!  Remind me to send you $$ when you have to go through the
re-election hassle.  We need people like you on CC who see more than one
side of things and try to work together in peace (and fortunately, most CC
members do, in my opinion.)    Ethel

On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 11:51 AM, Pam Walzer <pamwalzer at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
> -----Please delete extra content when replying to messages------
>
> Note: This list is NOT an official service of the City Of Missoula. But
> posts to this list may be entered into the public record.
> Subscribe or view archives at Missoulagov.org
> List Serve hosting provided by www.CedarMountainSoftware.com<http://www.cedarmountainsoftware.com/>.
>
>

-- 
"Apathy is a vice."  Oscar Wilde
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.cmslists.com/pipermail/missoulagov/attachments/20091006/244130d5/attachment.htm>