> Heller:  You might want to talk to Council Member Lisa Goodman.  About a
> year ago, she told me that downtown's share of property taxes has dropped
> precipitously; from 50% to 20% I think.  

OK, first, the figure (which I won't blame Lisa for, since it came via
memory) is wrong: The Central Business District's share dropped from 40
percent of property taxes paid in 1996 to 28 percent today.

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/city-budget/2004adopted/Sec3_PropValuesTaxTr
ends.pdf

But property taxes paid is not the same as commercial value - which is what
I was asking about The state's commercial rate cut reduced commercial taxes
paid. So there's a bit of apples and oranges to Vicky's response. 

>Apparently all of the new
> construction hasn't added much to the tax base.

See above. We still have no figures for commercial market values - though if
they are dropping, it may have more to do with real estate's cyclical nature
than the city going to hell (see the recent huge sale of the IDS Center).
Plus, the Central Business District has only one condo project I know of -
SixQuebec at 6th & Marquette. The others are on Downtown's fringes not
considered Central Business District.

> You might also call Finance
> Director Patrick Born and ask him why you are having such a tough time
> finding the figures.  

Sorry, I had about five minutes on the Web to try to find sourcing. But the
original assertion was also made without a source...

> Brauer:  Commercial rate cuts and the wiping out of residential
> limited-market-value caps - both state actions - are key factors (possibly
> bigger ones) than market valuation shifts. To cit only one ignores
reality.
> 
> Heller:   I listed four factors and you can add these two to the mix.
> What's your point?

My points are a) there are factors that were ignored and b) you need to know
how much each is responsible to figure out why the problem exists. Context
matters.

> Brauer:  Lots of condos are being built on parking lots or drastically
> underused spaces. 

> Heller:  Maybe yes, maybe no - it depends on whether the condos are sold,
or
> they go into foreclosure.  Earlier this year, the Strib reported a net
> population loss in Minneapolis of over 9,000 people in one year.  As I
> recall, you didn't believe the census bureau either.

First, I never said that. But the Census Bureau number is an estimate
between decennial censuses. It's very inexact at best.. Second, this proves
nothing about condos. It doesn't tell us who is leaving, what income level
they have, etc. Post-911, immigrants aren't coming and some are leaving -
that hurts low-end apartments but not necessarily condos, if we are getting
some influx of empty-nest suburbanites and out-of-town.

> I'm sure that the other Listmembers know your opinion on this subject and
> mine.  I'm not trying to convince you David.  I'm happy to let other
people
> decide for themselves.

Providing fact checks through quality info is a great way to help those
other people...

David Brauer
Kingfield

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