1993-10-11 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Of equal concern are future mandates, most with uncertain or unknown costs. The upcoming compliance with the mandates of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is currently under evaluation. The costs of compliance with this one requirement will impact the City's fiscal outlook for some years to come, due to the phased nature of compliance. It is likely that every department in the city will be impacted in some way. Other upcoming mandates include the recently approved Family Medical Leave Policy, federal health-care reform and trip reduction. Environmental mandates anticipated to impact the City include Storm water permitting, changes in landfill permitting through Subtitle D legislation, mandatory recycling and yard-waste bans, alternative fuels conversion and upgrading of underground fuel storage facilities. These are known issues that will effect La Porte in the future. With the current climate of legislating regulations and requirements almost continuously, and budget difficulties at all levels of government, cities can expect more frequent and costly unfunded mandates from all sides. Awareness of this issue by the public is vital to easing the financial burden on cities like La Porte. Passage of a resolution supporting the National League of Cities and the Texas Municipal League to educate citizens on the effect of federal mandates is a good start. However, it should be remembered that the states, counties and other governmental subdivisions are equally blameworthy. TML should attempt to address this issue also.