On 9/24/04 9:47 AM, "Victoria Heller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Landlords already pay double the property taxes of homestead property in > Minneapolis. Last week, one Listmember wrote that her house is worth > $300,000 and she pays $1,500 in property taxes. A $300,000 rental property > would pay roughly $6,000 in property taxes, and a small business property > worth $300,000 would pay $12,000 in property taxes. Onerous taxes aren't > enough for Minneapolis, to get rid of the last few private property owners, > they need to add regulatory penalties. > > The message is clear: Minneapolis does not want private businesses of any > kind.
First off, I think that one Listmember was incorrect. My property taxes are almost $1,700 this year and my house is worth $177,000. But more importantly, Vicky still cannot seem to grasp that these "property tax disparities" between residential and commercial properties are not due to any action by Minneapolis because the property tax rates are set by the state, not the city. In other words, you'll find the same "disparities" in Anoka, St. Paul, Duluth, Eagan, Starbuck, Winona, etc. I guess none of them want private businesses, either. Also, I'm kind of curious if anyone saw the story item about Gander Mountain is going to move their headquarters from Bloomington to St. Paul. According to the story, St. Paul is offering a $700,000 "financing package" to "smooth the way" for the move. http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4997584.html Yet, it's interesting that also noted in a related story is St. Paul has the lowest rental rate of the seven real estate sectors in the Twin Cities metro area, with a 25% office vacancy rate. http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4995528.html How can this be? St. Paul hasn't raised property taxes in over a decade. Shouldn't they be kicking Minneapolis' rear in attracting businesses to locate in their city? Could it be that businesses actually have other criteria that they might factor into where they locate rather than constantly obsess over property taxes like Ms. Heller? Or maybe it's when a city doesn't keep tax revenues in line with costs, you end up with the sort of grungy-looking downtown that I saw when walking over to 7th and Robert St. from my office on Lafayette Road last Friday for an appointment. > Another lingering question: Why is Minneapolis the only City in the State > with its own assessor? [I think this is true, but not sure] Usually the > Counties calculate real estate tax values. They're not. Here's two examples of others: Duluth - http://www.ci.duluth.mn.us/city/assessor/index.htm St. Cloud - http://ci.stcloud.mn.us/Web/departments/Finance/Assessor/index.htm excerpt from St. Cloud site: "The Assessor's primary task is to evaluate the market values for all of the structures within the city. As necessary to become acquainted with properties the Assessor's representative examines structures within the city to prepare the "valuation". Other activities occur in the office. Criteria such as similar kind sales data and comparisons to other properties is utilized in the calculation process. The State of Minnesota's statutes sets standards for valuations." Let me repeat that for those who might have missed it: The State of Minnesota's statutes sets standards for valuations. Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
