Riverview council renews 2-mill public safety assessment after brief public hearing

At its May 5 meeting, the Riverview City Council voted unanimously to adopt a two-mill special assessment levy to continue funding police and fire services.

City Manager Jeff Dobek told the council and the public that the measure is a renewal, not a new tax, and that the city is seeking the assessment because the recent closure of the city landfill removed a source of transfers that had helped support public safety costs. "This is not a tax increase, but a renewal," Dobek said, explaining the levy "is equal to 2 mills" and is intended to "offset the public safety costs."

The renewal follows a public hearing at which at least one resident raised concerns about how the assessment is calculated. Resident Bill Hempel said he supported the assessment but objected to its property-value basis: "I don't have a problem with the assessment for the police. What I do have a problem with is the way it's being done as far as property value. To me, that’s not fair. It should be a flat fee for every home."

Mayor Swift framed the levy as necessary to avoid staffing reductions, saying the city's total public safety cost is about $7,821,000 and that without the two mills the city would face cuts. "Without these 2 mills, we would be looking at laying off 4, 5, 6 police officers, and nobody wants to do that," Swift said.

Discussion versus decision: the council received public input during the hearing and considered the city manager's explanation and the resident comment. After discussion, the council moved and approved the resolution adopting the special assessment roll and authorizing the two-mill levy. The council also waived the referenced council policy to allow the resolution to proceed.

Vote: The resolution passed by roll call with all present members voting yes (Council member Webb; Council member Workman; Council member Gennaga; Council member O'Neil; Council member Pray; Council member Robins; Mayor Swift).