BURNSVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Policy Statements
Revised December 2007
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/RE-DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
October 2000
The Burnsville Chamber of Commerce advocates economic development and redevelopment as a vital component of the health of our community through the creation of jobs and increases in the tax base. The Burnsville Chamber:
- supports the Economic Growth Committee as an advisory body to the Burnsville City Council and the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce on development and redevelopment policy.
- supports any legal business attempting to locate in an appropriately zoned commercial/industrial area and submitting a proposal that conforms with all regulatory requirements.
- supports the rights of any business to apply for zoning changes.
- supports economic development efforts of both members and non-members.
- supports all businesses in their economic development efforts even if that business competes with a current member.
- supports the use of financial tools where development/redevelopment would not occur but for the assistance provided.
- supports efforts to improve transportation options and infrastructure.
- will be actively involved on any policy development that impacts a business such as: sign ordinances, taxes, transportation, etc.
- will monitor any government actions to take property or condemn the value in contract (such as a corporate franchise fee or lease) for a public purpose. The extent of the Chamber’s actions will be determined on a case by case basis. The main criteria for action being the just compensation to the property owner and the overall impact on the local community. Such actions (or the threat of those actions) should be used only as a last resort option with restraint exercised.
TAXATION POLICIES
June 2001
The Burnsville Chamber of Commerce advocates for an equitable tax system. The Burnsville Chamber:
- supports assessing levies against market value instead of tax capacity.
- supports continuing to lower the C/I classification rate until Minnesota is no longer ranked in the top 10 states.
- supports lowering the class rate on apartment buildings.
- supports efforts to keep Burnsville ranked in the lower half of comparable target cities for overall tax burden.
- supports efforts to move Minnesota out of the top ten states in state taxes per capita.
- will be actively involved on any policy development that includes a “user fee.”
- opposes general franchise fees that are imposed on all properties or citizens without regard for specific benefit.
- supports efforts to cap the growth, and ultimately eliminate, the metropolitan fiscal disparities program.
- supports the utilization of reserve funds where appropriate. The reserve funds should be fully transparent to the public, used as defined and spent or set aside within the planned timeframe. All additions to the reserve fund should cease once the target amount is reached.
- believes that annual capital investment should be done in a “pay as you go” manner, with the appropriate fund balances in place to support it.
- believes that state aid to cities should be eliminated, thereby reducing the state tax burden.
TRANSPORTATION POLICIES
June 2001
The Burnsville Chamber of Commerce advocates for an appropriate and efficient transportation system. The Burnsville Chamber:
- supports providing adequate capacity and effective management to reduce traffic congestion.
- opposes tying transportation funding to non-transportation issues.
- supports efforts to increase the speed of construction planning and completion.
- urges the legislature to enact a plan to fund unmet transportation needs, including the consideration of new funding mechanisms.
- supports eliminating Trunk Highway Fund expenditures for non-transportation purposes.
- supports the continuation of the City of Burnsville’s Infrastructure Trust Fund.
- opposes the utilization of transportation utility fees.
- believes that other local fees implemented for transportation purposes should be done on a regional level (at the minimum).
- supports public transportation as an important system component and should be implemented as cost effectively as possible.
- supports statutory dedication of the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax fund, 60% to highways and 40% to transit.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
August 2005
The Burnsville Chamber of Commerce recognizes the health of our business climate is greatly impacted by the availability of a quality workforce. Therefore, the Chamber supports efforts to keep our businesses competitive with a system that produces a flexible, skilled workforce. The Burnsville Chamber:
- supports strategies that utilize business leadership to guide the use of available public and private resources for workforce development.
- supports improving relevant information tools and preparation activities for youth to make successful transitions into the workforce.
- supports collaboration between businesses, secondary schools, high schools, community and technical colleges, apprenticeships and other educational and training programs to provide high quality workforce education and training experiences.
- supports strategies to improve availability of information about career and training opportunities to those seeking employment.
- supports strategies to create measurements for success against workforce development goals at the regional and local level.
EDUCATION POLICIES
August 2005
The Burnsville Chamber of Commerce believes that strong local schools and a strong business community are vital to each other and our community. The Burnsville Chamber:
- believes that strong leadership in our schools and business community will promote a strong community.
- supports local public school accountability for continuous improvements in academic achievement for all students.
- supports fiscally responsible local school funding at the state and federal level.
- supports reforming and modernizing teacher compensation (e.g. performance pay) to ensure the most competent teachers in our classrooms.
- supports continued efforts to increase local control of public education.
HEALTH CARE
December 2007
The Burnsville Chamber of Commerce believes that policy changes must be made to reduce the impact of health care mandates, taxes, and regulations on the cost of health care. Additionally, we support creation of a functioning, responsive health care marketplace that will achieve better health outcomes, reduce the cost of health care, and reduce the rate of future health care cost increases. The Burnsville Chamber:
- Supports removal of existing insurance mandates that do not provide measurable quality improvement and where benefits do not outweigh the costs.
- Supports elimination and/or streamlining of regulations that add costs and unnecessary delay to the existing health care system.
- Supports expansion of product flexibility by allowing more options in co-payments, deductibles, cost-sharing and rating.
- Supports efforts to reduce the cost of medical liability on the health care system.
- Supports transparent pricing based on packages of care.
- Supports enhanced quality measures and reporting.
- Supports health plan payments and benefits that reward optimal care.
- Supports provider contracts that pay for superior results.
- Supports mandatory quality reporting by health plans using a common tool.
- Supports efforts that will support and promote effective primary and preventive care.
- Supports individual and community wellness.
- Supports development and implementation of a statewide IT protocol for computerized information sharing.
ENERGY
December 2007
The Burnsville Chamber of Commerce believes that reliable and affordable energy, in particular electricity, is important to all Minnesota businesses regardless of industry, size, or location. Minnesota must diversify its energy portfolio, take advantage of emerging technologies and natural resources, and encourage energy conservation in order to remain competitive. The Burnsville Chamber:
- Supports evaluation of conservation programs weighing the cost of the measure against the cost of production and transmission of the energy use they would save. Peak period energy is the most cost-effective to conserve.
- Supports restructuring the conservation improvement program (CIP) to give business customers more direct incentive to invest in conservation.
- Supports the creation of renewable energy through incentives rather than mandates.
- Supports elimination of any government imposed costs that raise the cost of generating electricity in Minnesota.
- Supports policies that protect the current levels of base-load generations.
- Supports all types of generation (including hydroelectric and nuclear) for adding to baseload generating capacity.
