Branson lays out 2008 legislative agenda

Much of the city’s agenda focuses on development and local control issues, in addition to its overall support of efforts to protect natural resources and stiffer rules regarding employers who hire or harbor illegal immigrants. Here’s a summary by category:

Development

The city supports legislation that allows cities to exercise the extraterritorial powers of planning, zoning, enforcement of building codes and regulation of subdivisions within adjacent unincorporated areas;

The city opposes legislation that restricts a municipality’s ability to extend city services into newly annexed areas;

The city opposes legislation that restricts municipalities’ abilities to impose franchise or user fees for the use of city right-of-ways;

The city supports legislation that provides funding for state agencies to work with cities and private and not-for-profit organizations to address affordable housing;

The city opposes legalization of casino gambling in southwest Missouri; and

The city opposes changes by the state Department of Natural Resources that would encourage development of subdivisions with separate sewer systems built adjacent to a city’s system.

Local control

The city opposes reduction of local regulatory authority over developers;

The city opposes legislation

that would interfere with municipal authority to determine personnel

or merit system rules and regulations;

The city supports Missouri’s current meet-and-confer law for public employees and opposes legislation that would create a mandatory collective bargaining law;

The city opposes exempting any further items from the local sales tax and supports review of the current exemptions; and

The city opposes state-mandated sales tax holidays that don’t give

cities the choice to participate or opt out.

Also on the agenda

The board approved an agreement that consolidates the city and Taney County health departments.

The entities will merge in February with the county department’s Director Jim Berry at the helm, as the city’s Health Director Linn Smith is retiring.