The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities announced a bill this morning that would reduce the 2010 unallotment of LGA and MVC to their 2009 unallotment level, which would help communities avoid making deep cuts in essential services and protect property taxpayers from unaffordable tax increases. To learn more about this moderate approach bill, click here.

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities recently surveyed its members to learn how LGA unallotments are impacting their 2010 budgets. To find the new city stories, click here, or simply click the “City Stories” link at the top of the page.

Bemidji Mayor Richard Lehmann responded to comments Governor Tim Pawlenty made last week on his radio show about the city and its LGA funding. To read the full column, click here. Here’s just a taste:

In Bemidji, we’re proud of the way we have planned for hard times like these. But make no mistake: Cuts to LGA mean cuts to essential city services and increases in property taxes. Bemidji now joins the growing legion of rural cities “featured” on the governor’s radio show — a list that includes Albert Lea, Wadena and Mankato, among others — that he apparently feels he can run better than the local residents do.

Rather than dispense his budgeting critiques from an isolated recording studio in St. Paul, I invite Gov. Pawlenty to sit down with me and my statewide counterparts to have a constructive conversation on the future he envisions for greater Minnesota. Dialogue is a two-way street, and when the governor is ready to learn about the consequences of his policy decisions, the city of Bemidji will be here.