Wednesday, May 22, 2013
This year’s tax bill brings local government aid (LGA) back to the community after more than a decade.
Changes to the formula that the state uses for local government aid money and increased funding for the program mean Golden Valley will go from zero local government aid in 2013 to $219,070 in 2014, according to the Minnesota Department of Revenue. The omnibus tax bill—which passed the Minnesota Senate 36-30 just a few minutes before midnight Monday, the legislative session's legal deadline—pumps $80 million more into the local government aid (LGA) program. The aim is to help cities lower property taxes. Click on the PDF to the right of this article to see a full breakdown of how cities across the state will fare. The bill also bars most cities from increasing their levies by more than 3 percent this fall. The extra LGA money is just a …
Monday, May 20, 2013
Minimize your costs at the gas pump with this helpful guide to the lowest gas prices in the city.
Seeing your bill at the gas pump climb to $50, $60 or even $70? The Minnesota statewide average gas price is $4.27—the highest in the lower 48 states, according to a Monday report in the Pioneer Press. Golden Valley's gas prices roughly mirror the state's predicament, with per-gallon prices at many stations hovering at or just below the average. Wondering where to go for the cheapest gas in Golden Valley? Here are a handful of local stations with the lowest gas prices Monday afternoon, according to GasBuddy.com. Editor's note: Gas prices can change several times throughout the day. As a result, there may be discrepencies between what is shown here and what the price is when you stop at a station. Where do you usually go for the lowest gas …
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Kids can get a hands-on, behind-the-scenes look at the Police Department.
Does you child dream of becoming a police officer? Registration is now open for the Golden Valley Police Department’s Junior Police Academy. The academy offers children ages 10 to 13 a hands-on, behind-the-scenes look at the agency. There will be tours, demonstrations by officers and their dogs, a mock crime scene, fingerprinting, information about SWAT and the crime lab and more. The day concludes with “The Case of the Kidnapped Donuts,” in which the kids get to solve a crime and eat the evidence. The event is limited to 20 kids. Preference is given to Golden Valley residents. Those who’d like to participate should contact the Police Department at 763-593-8079 or fill out an application and send it with a $10 check (payable to Golden …
Friday, May 17, 2013
The Met Council awarded the Golden Valley-based company an $8.4 million contract for the facility.
Knutson Construction is among the companies working on the push to expand transit in the Twin Cities. The Metropolitan Council awarded the Golden Valley-based company an $8.4 million contract to build a 1,000-car Metro Transit park-and-ride facility in Brooklyn Park, according to the Star Tribune. The new facility will nearly double the existing 511-car lot at the Highway 610-Noble Parkway interchange. The facility will have a 500-car ramp and a 500-car lot, and it will be built on a 9.2-acre property across Noble Parkway from the existing lot. Click here to read the full story.
45.12678
-93.337288
4401 95th Ave N, Brooklyn Park, MN
The site of the new park and ride.
/articles/knutson-construction-to-build-new-brooklyn-park-park-and-ride
/locations/9398313
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Here's the story of Marlene Konkoly, who found creative ways to spend less and save more so she can retire at 50. This story is the first in our series about Extreme Savers.
Americans may be living longer, but our retirement plans aren’t keeping up. Which means people are living longer with smaller bank accounts. But Marlene Konkoly will retire at age 50. How did she do it? She contributes a whopping 45 percent of the gross annual income she earns as a procurement officer for an automotive finance company to her retirement—all while owning a home and remaining debt-free. Konkoly is actually well ahead of the retirement savings curve compared to many of her fellow Americans. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, fewer than half of Americans even know how much money they would need to retire. And nearly a third of employees who had access to a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) did not participate…
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Everything you need to know about painting your house: stripping, powerwashing, fixing damaged wood and choosing paint colors. Sponsored by Home Depot.
It’s that time of year again, and you’re outside, enjoying your yard. Then you start nosing around—maybe you’re inspecting your plants, or reviewing the condition of your lawn or setting up your sprinklers—and before you know it, reality hits. You need to paint the house. A daunting task. An expensive task. A necessary task—because it's not just about how your house looks, it's about your home's value. Neglect is not an option. Take heart, however. Information and resources have never been more easily available to help you through this project. Know Your Options Your options are to either hire a contractor or paint it yourself. Hiring a contractor is an expensive option, but if it's in your budget and you do the necessary research to …
The 260,000-square-foot complex will be built near the Xenia Avenue and Golden Hills Drive intersection.
Construction on the 173-unit Arcata apartment complex is now scheduled to start in the fall, not spring or summer as originally announced, the Star Tribune reported Monday. Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. is building the 260,000-square-foot, six-story complex on a 2.05-acre lot near the current Colonnade office building at the Xenia Avenue and Golden Hills Drive intersection. The Golden Valley City Council approved the preliminary design plans in December. However, the final plan included an additional 22 parking spaces because of city worries about onsite parking availability and Golden Valley’s parking requirements. The council approved a final plan March 5.
As part of our new Smart Spending series, Patch wants to uncover the true going rate for various goods and services in town, so you'll know exactly how much you should pay for what you need. Help us out by replying in the comments.
This week: How much do lawn services cost? How much do you pay for your lawn service? And what does that cover—just mowing, or does it cover weeding, pruning, planting? Please share in the comments below—we promise we won't judge you! And if you've got a lawn service you love, tell us that too. Here are some Golden Valley businesses that provide lawn and gardening service: This is the first of an ongoing series, "What's the Going Rate for..." where Patch seeks to uncover how much things cost so you never have to ask again.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Officers wrote 1,163 tickets, according to a WCCO-TV report.
Legend Police departments that cover multiple cities have a pin in each of the cities they cover. Sheriff’s offices, state patrol, park police, University of Minnesota police and airport police are not shown. *** In 2011, Golden Valley police wrote the 18th-highest number of speeding tickets per capita among agencies in the Twin Cities metro area, according to a report on WCCO-TV. The city’s 30 officers wrote 1,163 tickets for excessive speed—a rate of .06 tickets for every person in Golden Valley. The top three locations in the city of 20,655 residents were: Nearby police departments posted mixed results. Robbinsdale wrote the fifth-highest number of speeding tickets per capita, and Minnetonka ranked 12th. But New Hope was 27th, Crystal…
Monday, May 13, 2013
The cost of colonoscopies, MRIs, CT scans and mammograms can shift a lot from place to place.
It costs $120 more to get an MRI in Hennepin County than in neighboring Ramsey County. That's according to data from New Choice Health, a private company that encourages people to become smarter healthcare consumers. Hennepin County tends to cost more than Ramsey County in all three categories for which the data is available: CT scans, mammograms and MRIs. These big regional differences have been in the news lately: As the Washington Post wrote on Wednesday, "One hospital charges $8,000 - another $38,000." Using the same data as the Post, The New York Times listed out the prices of a series of procedures in hospitals across the country. The Times and the Post used data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Patch worked with New …
