No new taxes!
When Governor Pawlenty vowed not to increase taxes if he was elected governor, was there a double-secret clause in there making the clause moot for double-digit property tax increases?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pawlenty is already saying it's not his fault, that local officials are responsible for it. But consider this: local governments have to pay for the most basic of services: education, police, fire protection. When the state government cuts LGA and education funding, the cities still have to provide these services. Thus, they must rely on the more unfair and unpopular property tax, instead of more fair income taxes.
As Senate Tax Chair Larry Pogemiller says, the reduction in property taxes that were the result of the 2001 tax reform bill may soon be gone entirely.
posted by MN Politics Guru @ 18:29
4 Comments:
I think it's time we put the screws on these local government folks. It's not enough to raise my taxes and blame the state. They need to stand up and show us they are getting the absolute most out of the dollars they have. Then, and only then, can they go around blaming someone else.
It was a lovely article. I got to spend Thanksgiving listening to my normally right leaning inlaws discuss how much they hate Pawlenty.
I hope they have another goodie ready for Christmas.
It's interesting how little corporate tax your state collects on the largest companies. I'm writing a paper on Minnesota tax policy for a school down south (great site, by the way, it's been a help), and it's awful to see this government bleed its citizens dry while the corporations are paying a quarter of what state law says they should. Forget the income tax, just make the corporations pay a fraction of what they should be anyway.
This is very brief, I know, so please feel free to add to this...
Pogemiller's record--a refresher:
*Against the tax cuts of 2001. Almost shut down the government in 2001 while bickering about the budget.
*For a gas tax, and says its "silly" to place a referendum on the gas tax.
*Believes that property tax should only be frozen if tax on business and commercial property were to be raised--which would effectively increase the costs of goods and services for everyone.
*Against the JOBZ program and voted to increase taxes in St. Cloud and Waite Park to develop business.
*Authored a bill to increase taxes by $1 billion dollars--which penalizes working families (I guess this is what Pogemiller would call a "fair tax"?).
*Voted in favor of state grants (paid for with your tax dollars) to pay for abortions
No wonder MN is having so many problems with our tax system!
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