> David Brauer continues: > "A 'driving factor' in [Minneapolis's] rise from third in the 2003 > rankings to first this year appears to be a state-enacted change in how > voter-approved school and city levy costs are assessed, the > public-affairs nonprofit said. According to the Citizens League, > voter-approved levies cancel out a benefit that homeowners typically > enjoy in property-tax calculations. The change was made during the > 1990s as part of a state effort to reduce business taxes." > > In other words, it's not the spending, it's the state-mandated tax > shift onto homeowners... > > Mark Anderson replies: > I don't get this. Every city in the state is subject to the same law, so > why would that law drive up the Mpls ranking? Is it because Mpls has a lot > more businesses than the cities whose ranking they passed?
It's because Minneapolis has relied more on referendum money (for the schools and the library) than other cities. The state law change made homeowners pick up relatively more of the referendum tax burden...more even than overall property-tax rate compression that say businesses and apartment owners pay less relative to homeowners. David Brauer Kingfield 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
