DFLers announce property tax relief plan

By Dylan Thomas
The Free Press

MANKATO December 11, 2005 11:52 pm

— Calling the sharp increases on property taxes making headlines this holiday season “Grinch-like,” House DFL leader Matt Entenza flew into Mankato Sunday to announce a property tax relief plan.
“In the spirit of the Christmas season, Democrats are saying that enough is enough,” Entenza said in a presentation at the Mankato Regional Airport.
With many taxpayers seeing double-digit property tax increases, DFLers plan to spend nearly $170 million of the $701 million state budget surplus on property tax relief.
Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, said Republicans want to use some of the surplus for property tax relief, too. But Cornish prefers a wait-and-see approach, preferring to build fund reserves and wait for the February state budget forecast, released at the start of the next legislative session.
“Let’s see what we’ve got and then start divvying it up,” Cornish said.
Under the DFL plan, $118 million would go toward restoring cuts in state aid to cities and another $48 million dollars would be distributed to homeowners and renters as property tax refunds. DFLers would also guarantee school districts are paid back funds that were shifted to other areas to shore up the state budget.
Entenza said Republican lawmakers touting a no-new-taxes approach in recent years simply shifted the burden to property taxes.
Cornish brushed off the criticism.
“The decisions we made last year couldn’t have been all that bad, because now we’re sitting on a surplus from a $4 billion deficit,” he said.
Cornish said Republicans share some of the Democrats’ goals, such as restoring Local Government Aid. Past cuts made to the program, which funnels state dollars to cities, were a factor in many of the local property tax increases.
But Cornish wants a clearer picture of the state’s financial situation before making spending decisions.
“We’re not making promises to LGA or any other accounts,” he said.

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