If you want to know why property tax collections are dropping in Minneapolis, you must become familiar with the City's property tax information website: http://apps.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/pi.app/address_selection/address.asp Look up 801 Nicollet. On the left margin, select "valuation history." You will see that the "market/taxable" value of the Dayton's/Marshall Fields building has dropped from $17 million in 1999 (taxes payable 2000) to $8.9 million in 2004 (taxes payable 2005). Recent articles in the Strib highlighted the bankruptcy of Tiro Industries - a company that received HUGE Minneapolis public subsidies - 400 jobs lost. Saks 5th Avenue is bailing out. Business vacancies exceed 20%. It's true that the legislature has reduced tax rates, trying to keep businesses from leaving the State. But the greatest harm in Minneapolis has come from the anti-business policies and punitive tax burden in Minneapolis. The good news is that homeowners will finally have to pay for all of the goodies that they demanded. The huge increases in residential property taxes might finally get voters to pay attention to the cash hemorrhage in City government. Minneapolis will never balance its books until the City balances the interests of businesses and residents. You have only two choices: Pay through the nose, year after year, for a decade of reckless spending, or grow your way out of the problem by attracting lots of new taxpayers, including businesses. You might also considering electing people who know the difference between a debit and a credit, an asset and a liability. Vicky Heller North Oaks and Cedar-Riverside Carol Becker wrote: "For example, in just 2001, commerial/industrial property paid 51.9% of the total property tax bill while homeowners paid 37.4%. In 2005, homeowners pay 52% of the burden while commerical/industrial properties pay only 27.2%. And it is homeowners who are paying an increasing share of the load while it is business who is reaping huge reductions in their tax bills, curtosy of the Legislature."
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