Tim Bonham misses the point, and frankly, so did most Minneapolis voters.
I'm very much a believer in central cities as cultural and destination
engines of a region. That's why I supported LRT. BUT>>>Minneapolis has a
shrinking percentage of tax base relative to the growth of the region,and
Minneapolis has a increasing proportion of local debt relative to local tax
base growth - primarily due to a high level of TIF. Minneapolis used to
always be a net contributor to Fiscal Disparities. Now, many suburbs are
net contributors, and Minneapolis occasionally a net recipient.
As C/I and Apartment tax rates continue to get relief from the legislature,
and new projects downtown get disproportionate TIF relative to private
investment, the debt and tax burden of the city gets shifted to a smaller
and smaller number of taxpayers...i.e.: Mr. Bonham's house.
Hey...pay for it...thank you.....but I'm still an urbanite at heart, and I
think Minneapolis SHOULD have demanded county-wide support for this
institution, and denied resource sharing unless they got it!
Steve Minn
Minneapolis-deprived
----------
>From: Tim Bonham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Re: Paying for the Library
>Date: Fri, Nov 10, 2000, 6:49 PM
>
>
>>Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2000 17:18:59 -0600
>>From: "Steve Minn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>To: "Beem, Katy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
>>Subject: Paying for the Library
>>
>>...You have made my point...Non
>>Minneapolitans will use it, and not pay for it!
>
> You know, Steve, I think some of those Non-Minneapolitans also drive on our
> streets or swim in our lakes or play softball in our parks, all without
> paying for it!
> Gee, do ya think maybe we should set up tollbooth checkpoints at
> the borders of the city? Or maybe just accept this as one of the prices to
> pay for living in the big city & the economic heart of the state?
> If we want to get into all the myriad of ways in which the city
> residents/taxpayers subsidize suburban/rural areas, that's a whole new (&
> lengthy) discussion.
>
> Tim Bonham
> Longfellow Neighborhood
>
