--- Victoria Heller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Minneapolis has also had a proliferation of > "non-profits" and "religious > assemblies." These entities don't pay taxes (or in > some cases greatly > reduced taxes.) We need to encourage businesses > that actually contribute > cash to the coffers.
This is part of the reason that central cities deserve to have some additional support from the state and surrounding communities. A central city I lived in in Michigan, that was the cultural, educational, religious, nonprofit health and social services and government nerve center for that part of the state, had 40% of it's total nonresidential property off the tax rolls compared to a measly 2% in surrounding suburban communties. Substantially more of the central cities residential property was also off the tax roles. I'd be interested in seeing a similiar contrast for Minneapolis. Federal, state, and county government facilities, University of Minnesota, Augsburg College, University of St. Thomas, Blake School, the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota Orchestra, Guthrie Theater, Jungle Theater, Hennepin Center for the Arts, Intermedia Arts, churches, temples, mosques, meeting houses, the regional pagan library, Heart of the Beast Theater, Mixed Blood Theater, numerous nonprofit hospitals and social and health care agencies, emergency housing facilities, etc. Are all services and institutions that serve more than just Mpls. While the proximity of all these services add to the richness of city life, there is also alot of cost borne by city residents and businesses to help cover costs of sidewalks and road maintenance and other services provided around and to these properties. One advantage Minneapolis has is that it has maintained a higher concentration of regional business properties than many other central cities across the country meaning that many businesses are still located and pay taxes in the central city whose employees are spread across the metro area. This helps a little bit toward addressing some of this gap. I'd love to a see a study comparing the support of such regional and superregional nonproperty tax paying entities located in Mpls and St. Paul vis a vis surrounding suburbs and see if something could be done to have surrounding communites cover some of the cost to support the services we all use and share. David Strand Loring Park __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
