Terrell Brown wrote:
According the the article in 1980 middle class was income between $25,000 and $75,000 and in 2003 middle class was income between (ya, you guessed it) $25 and $75 thousand. Does anyone other than the Washington Times really believe you can use the same absolute standards for 1980 and then again after 23 years of inflation?
As was stated in the article:
"...it is important to know that the data in the Times story are adjusted for inflation. This is mentioned in a footnote to the chart, but nowhere else in the article. It might be useful to know that those with an income of $11,825 in 1980 now make $25,000, or that an income of $75,000 last year is the same as an income of $35,475 in 1980."
Terrell Brown wrote:
You can blame the city for a number of things. The property tax structure in Minnesota isn't one of them. The city can do absolutely nothing to correct the fact that rental residences are taxed at a much higher rate than homesteaded ones.
You are correct that the property tax structure is not set by the City. However, the City does levy its own property tax and, therefore, does have some control over the total property tax levy. So, every time the City of Minneapolis raises its property tax rates, it is harming the poor who most often live in rental property.
Scott McGerik South St Paul (formerly Hawthorne) http://scott.mcgerik.com/
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