Governor Pawlenty's budget plan illustrates his conservative view that local governmental units should be as self-sufficient as possible and bear their own costs of services. Evidence of this can be seen in his massive cuts to LGA and his partial funding of the operating costs of the Hiawatha LRT line leaving the shortfall to the communities that benefit from the line. Though I would argue that the region and state as whole benefit from a wider base of supporting these costs, Governor Pawlenty has the right to make decisions that reflect his political views. However it seems that his ideals only apply to the expense side of the equation.
$101 million in states income taxes and $342 million in state sales taxes are generated in Minneapolis. Using Pawlenty's logic, it seems that Minneapolis should be able to keep the income it generates to offset its own costs. Of course this is not what the governor is proposing. Additionally, shouldn't the city be able to keep the individual income taxes generated on jobs in Minneapolis? The city employs 12% of the workforce in Minnesota. Therefore Minneapolis should get an additional $600 million from individual state income taxes. Again there is no mention of this in governor Pawlenty's budget. To go one step further, gas taxes should also be remitted to Minneapolis based on how many vehicle miles were traveled in the city. After all, that would allocate the revenue correctly to the jurisdiction that is generating all of those vehicle miles and hence all of that gas tax. Minneapolis could then do as it pleased with the $46 million it was generating since it would be paying all of its own costs. These changes would bring $1,089 million to the city compared with the budgeted $105 million the city was hoping to receive before the governor's proposed LGA cuts. If Governor Pawlenty wants to play this game with Minneapolis, maybe we should encourage him to go all the way. Nicholas Frank CPA and Tax Accountant North Loop This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message. Any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
