Cities, Services & Funding: Broader Thinking, Better Solutions

The entire approach to city services and funding needs to be rethought;
a broader discussion begins NOW.

The League has launched an effort that has the potential to help shape the future of Minnesota cities—the services you provide, how those services are delivered, and how they are paid for. Fighting for more funding for LGA, for local option sales taxes, and for more local revenue options is no longer enough. We need to shape a new way forward for Minnesota’s cities.

The Cities, Services & Funding initiative has five phases:

  1. Research
  2. Awareness-building
  3. Community conversations
  4. Policy development
  5. Legislative action

The League recently completed Phase 3 of this initiative, community conversations. The conversations took place in 12 host cities around the state, and a report will be posted here soon.

For Phase 1 of this project—research—the League commissioned a study to analyze what the future holds for city budgets if nothing changes.

You can be part of the solution
For Phase 2—awareness-building efforts—the League produced two videos and continues to ask others to share them.

The point of this effort is to engage the city community, policymakers, and the general public in conversations about the financial conditions cities are facing now and in the years to come. You can help spread the word about this effort and determine where it heads in the future.

Share these videos to build awareness
The League has produced two videos that take this complex issue of the future of city funding and present it in entertaining and surprising ways. The videos are designed to reach those people who may not be aware of city service and funding issues and get them thinking
and talking.

These videos can create buzz and awareness about the issues cities are facing; we believe they have the potential to be viewed far and wide among residents in our state in the weeks and months to come. You can help make this happen when you:

  • Watch the videos below or on YouTube at www.youtube.com/outsidetheox
  • Share the video links with your friends, family, neighbors, legislators, and constituents using e-mail, social media, and your city website, newsletter, cable channel, or other city communications
  • Post your comments related to the videos, city services, and funding for those services on:
    —Our blog site: www.outsidetheox.org
    —Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or other social media sites

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