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Posted at: 05/27/2009 9:40 PM Gov. Tim Pawlenty Calls Out Albert Lea City Leaders(ABC 6 NEWS) -- In a day when all cities are taking a hit in LGA funding Governor Tim Pawlenty singled out Albert Lea saying the city depends too much on local government aid. Last week Mayors across Minnesota spoke out in an effort to prevent dramatic cuts to local government aid. Governor Pawlenty has some strong words for Albert Lea leaders. "The Mayor or the group that's traveling around the state today is talking about Albert Lea's plight... We pay more than half of the city of Albert Lea's budget - you might ask why is it - what is it about Albert Lea that the rest of the state should pay half?” said Governor Tim Pawlenty. "It was misleading the way it was stated.” Albert Lea City Finance Director Rhonda Moen says Albert Lea does not rely on local government aid for 50% of their budget. She says the Governor used the wrong numbers when calculating what portion of Albert Lea's budget is based on LGA. "We only get 37% of our revenue from LGA." But Moen says, to be fair, Albert Lea used to rely too heavily on LGA. Back in 2003, local government aid did account for more than half the budget. "Our taxes in Albert Lea have more than doubled." "I was just shocked to hear being characterized as complaining," said Albert Lea Mayor Mike Murtaugh. "Now we're asking them under the previous proposal to take $514,000 in reductions. They're saying they can't do that," said Governor Pawlenty. Murtaugh says his complaint isn't that there should be no cuts, it's that they want those cuts to be spread equally across state programs. "Again not saying don't cut us, let's make it an equitable part of the solution." Our calls to a Governor Pawlenty’s Spokesperson went unreturned.
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