Group pushes for Mpls Park Board to be independent

A group of Minneapolis Park Board supporters has collected enough signatures to get a proposal on the ballot this fall which would make the board an independent body.

The effort is a response to an unsuccessful attempt by several City Council members to eliminate the board as a cost-cutting measure.

The charter amendment is also a response to a ballot measure that could result in the elimination of the Board of Estimate and Taxation -- an elected body which sets maximum levy limits for various city tax funds.

If that measure is approved by voters in November, Park Board supporters fear it would give too much taxing authority to members of the City Council.

But Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak says the charter amendment would give the Park Board unlimited power to raise property taxes. He's urging residents to reject it this fall.