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State Representative Kurt Zellers
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5502
For more information contact: Austin Bleess 651-296-5529
NEWS COLUMN
IT’S THE SURPLUS, NOT THE TAXES
By State Rep. Kurt Zellers,
District 32B
It’s about the surplus, not the taxes.
The 2007 legislative session has finally reached the final month and the taxpayers of our state are left with one question: with a $2.2 billion dollar surplus and $3.2 billion in new spending, do we need to raise taxes? In talking and writing with a number of Minnesotans in my district and all over our great state; I do not believe we need to raise ANY taxes and we should give what we over collected back to the taxpayers.
But, the Democrats that control both the Minnesota House and Senate think that they need to raise your taxes, on a LOT of things. To name a few, but not nearly all of the proposed taxes: your income (a new tax bracket and a tax increase on every taxpayer); gas for your car (raised by over 50%); registration tabs for your car; your beer (up 790%); your wine (up 450%); sales taxes increases (clothing, tattoos, hair cuts, facials, manicures, medical oxygen, paint, car repairs, prescription eye glasses and even funeral services); your cell phone (up 46%); light bulbs; your boat; your mortgage paperwork; a gift from your grandma (a new 10% tax on gifts) and even the hearse that takes you to your grave (the tax is tripled).
And then there are the fees, just as oppressive on a family budget. Of the millions of dollars in fees that are being leveled, some of the worst in my opinion are: mortgage firm employees (up 588% from $850 to $5,000 for new licenses and up from $450 to $2,500 for renewals); “wheelage” fee (per car, every year); deer hunting licenses; pharmacy fees and a $500 surcharge on bill boards
Back to the original question; do we need to ask you the taxpayer for more money when we have a $2.2 billion surplus? Again, the Democrats that control the Legislature scream an enthusiastic ‘YES!’ and have proposed over $5 BILLION in new taxes to prove that they want more of your money. Under Governor Pawlenty’s proposed budget, he increases our state budget over the next 2 years by 9.8% to just over $34 billion.
Some of you that I met at the State Capitol during the taxpayer’s rally last month said that 9.8% was too much new spending and that some of the surplus should be returned to the people who paid the taxes. And to be honest, I can’t say that I disagree. If the State of Minnesota over collected money above and beyond what we expected, it should go back to those who overpaid. If you go to grocery store and your bill is $65, you give the cashier $100; you absolutely expect to get $35 back! Why should our State government be any different? It’s still your money.
But our tax and spend Democrats in control at the State Capitol say they are, “…only going to tax the rich people, they got the money, they should pay.” Now, my wife and I are not wealthy people, like many of you in our area we are smack dab in the middle class. So why should any of us care if they ‘tax the rich’? First and more important, we already have enough money – a $2.2 billion dollar surplus. But besides that, the Minnesota Department of Revenue estimates that over 60% of these ‘people’ in the new “Top Tier” bracket are small business owners that file their business and personal taxes together. So they may have an income of over $400,000 a year on paper, but may be far ‘rich’ by most people’s standards. These small business owners may only provide 2, 10 or 20 jobs; but if that’s your job, do you want to see it ‘taxed’ away for more government spending?
And for those that buy into the ‘only tax the rich’ scheme, don’t think you will be spared; you just won’t be taxed first. The House Democrats introduced a bill that will raise taxes on EVERY income bracket, top to bottom. Taxing the ‘rich’ or upper brackets only accounts for roughly 170,000 Minnesotans. The vast majority of the taxpayers, at least the ones that are actually paying taxes – fall in the middle class, over 685,000 households between $60,000 and $150,000. Once the “rich” have all been tapped out or left the state, there will still be a “need” for more spending and then guess where they will come for the money – you and me. Raising taxes never stops with just the “rich people”, it can’t, there aren’t enough of them. Don’t think by feeding the alligator you’re safe, it just means he eats you last.
We have a budget surplus of $2.2 billion dollars. We are increasing our state budget by 9.8%. We have enough money. Minnesotans don’t think we need to raise anybody’s taxes. The Democrats in control of our State Legislature should listen to the people of our state and live within our means.
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