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Yesterday,
Thursday, June 28, Rep. Joe Mullery offered an
floor amendment to the House Tax Bill that would have protected the NRP program. At one point he downplayed his amendment as correcting a "technical" problem with the NRP language. Rep. Ron Abrams, the Chair of the House Tax Committee and lead tax negotiator for the House on the Tax Conference Committee, objected to that characterization. His attack on the Mullery Amendment concluded with this very telling statement regarding the Mayor's interest in protecting NRP: "Rep. Mullery, this is not a technical change. This wasn't a mistake. This is exactly what was intended by the Legislature. Precisely. MCDA and the City of Minneapolis have engaged in a propaganda campaign to basically change history. There is no "technical" problem with it. Let me tell you the effect of it (the Mullery amendment). Let me tell you the effect of it. If there is no law change, the (TIF) districts will be able to close up a couple of years early. Now what does that mean? That means property tax relief for everybody in suburban Hennepin County. If you live in suburban Hennepin County and you vote for this amendment, you are voting for greater property taxes in suburban Hennepin County. Let me tell you something else that you may not know. These (TIF) districts are exempt from fiscal disparities. So if you vote for this amendment and you are a Metropolitan legislator, you have voted for less property tax relief for your taxpayers because these properties will not be on the tax rolls. This (Mullery amendment) is a 58 million dollar item! If it's so important, why wasn't a bill introduced in the House? If it's so important, why didn't the Mayor of Minneapolis talk to me about it? Not one elected official, Rep. Mullery, outside the legislature, not a single one has asked for an appointment to see me this entire legislative session. Not a single one. Yet all of the sudden there are press conferences that are being held. We're being accused of being anti-Minneapolis, anti-this, anti-that. This is not technical. It is property tax unfairness to suburban Hennepin County and it's property tax unfairness to the metropolitan area. I strongly recommend a no vote." |
