Rep. Shannon Savick writes a column hoping you will read it, believe it and not check it for facts.

Savick states that the DFL balanced the budget with “some” new revenue: closing corporate tax loopholes, cigarette taxes and income tax increases on the wealthy? I don’t believe that tax increases of $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2014-15 and $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2016-17 qualifies as “some” new revenue. When is balancing a budget just raising revenue and not cutting spending as part of the budget process? Minnesota is one of the top-taxed states in the nation — this just adds to the burden.

The DFL Legislature didn’t just stop where Savick said. It also passed new taxes for: warehousing and storage, telecommunications equipment, electronic and commercial equipment repair including farm equipment, satellite service, gift tax, digital products, Internet sales and a 48.4 percent motor vehicle rental tax increase. All these taxes will impact families, small businesses including farms in Minnesota. So for a small-but-manageable deficit, the DFL passed $2.1 billion in new taxes including a provision that allows school boards to levy new property taxes, without asking voters.

So did property taxes go down? The DFL sent local governments $292 million in new state aids and promised property taxes would go down statewide as a result. The official Department of Revenue report shows that property taxes in Minnesota are increasing at every level: up 1.2 percent for counties, up 1.6 percent for cities, up 2 percent for towns, up 1.7 percent for counties and up 1.2 percent for special districts.

In fact, the Department of Revenue confirmed that 2014 is poised to report the highest property tax levy in Minnesota history, rising $125 million or 1.5 percent in total statewide. Where is the decrease that Savick and the DFL claim?

Taxpayers, voters, and families have to decide what kind of a state they want to live in. You ultimately will have your chance to reply. Do you want to live in a high tax-and-spend state that drives business and the wealthy from our state or do you appreciate the limited-government approach of the Republicans? No tax increases were necessary to balance this years’ budget. Just a little work and prioritization of spending to make government more efficient would have balanced this budget and surpluses would have been our future. You and I can balance our budgets; the state, according to the DFL, can’t without taking more from you!

 

David Anderson

Lonsdale