You can count Dan and I among those "Happy to pay for a better Minnesota." We know that our tax dollars do good things. We know we live in a traditionally undervalued neighborhood. We work hard to make it better, and have invested in our house and have even done so when the drug dealers were living next door and the police didn't seem to care.
But things are better now. The house next door is owner occupied; our financial and psychic investments have paid off. And the value of our home has increased. We will pay more, no doubt there. We expect it and in some ways welcome it. After all, we saw the value go down the first few years we were here, and that's not a pleasant outcome at all. But here's my beef (ok, two of 'em): When the value of my house goes up 40% in one taxing cycle and the taxes owed up a corresponding 35%, I wish the political powers that be wouldn't insult my intelligence by continuing to insist that we're into the umpteenth year of "no tax increases." Zero is not equal to thirty-five, and my taxes are going through the roof by just about anyone's arithmetic. Only someone hypnotized by the current Republican administration's budget machinations would ever see it as no increase. The second beef (and this one's Dan's, mostly) surrounds the fact that one of my neighbors appears poised to use the bankruptcy laws to avoid a property tax bill that is about a thousand times larger than what we're facing. Despite owing the bill, knowing they owe the bill, acknowledging that they owe the bill, and having accepted a sizeable level of other people's tax money over the years while accumulating the bill, they're going to do what they can to wipe it out, leaving the rest of us holding the bag. Way to make us feel good about paying our fair share. Diane and Dan We really live in the West End. _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
