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Where does all that property tax money go?
Property taxes are not all bad. They pay for the services that protect us from harm, educate children and adults, build and maintain the infrastructure, and provide care for those who cannot care for themselves.
But let's just think about this for a minute:
On my block each house pays perhaps $1000. dollars per year, after the Homestead deduction.
Cross Nicollet and house, or house equivalent in the case of rental properties, probably pays $2000. per year.
Cross Lyndale, $3000.
Cross Hennepin, well I won't guess. It would be unfair to those homeowners.
Now let's consider the businesses. I know of one retail business that pays $30,000. per year and another that pays $50,000. Business property taxes around Nicollet, Lyndale, Hennepin, and Lake are staggering.
Fifteen years ago I worked in a hotel in Bloomington on I-494. It was called the Grand Hotel. It is gone now, its location taken up by the airport runway expansion. The General Manager posted a copy of the Hotel's property tax half payment twice a year. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was more than a half a million dollars twice a year! - - - fifteen years ago!!
Now all this revenue is dependent us - men and women and our ability to pay, and not in addition to but before buying food, heat, clothing, and all the commodities and amenities life requires or desires.
If we cannot or do not pay, the whole system tanks. In order to pay we need jobs. While the Minneapolis 'up-zones' jobs are drying up. There are fewer and fewer good paying jobs every day.
If Minneapolis has to offer zero ($0.00) property tax to job producers that is what they had better do. And I don't mean for more restaurant jobs. I speak for living wage, career type jobs.
If I am missing something will somebody please tell me what it is!
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