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State Representative Leon Lillie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1188
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
NEWS COLUMN
Governor and Legislature Should Not Back Away from Property Tax Relief
Last week the Governor released his supplemental budget. I was disappointed that there was no money for property tax relief in the Governor's budget. We've all received our property tax statements and can see that property taxes are going way up. Statewide, property taxes have increased by over $1 billion over the last three years. A big reason for the increase is that property owners are paying for more and more of the essential services that the state used to pay for. Now that the state has a modest surplus from 2005, we need to use some of it for property tax relief.
The state budget runs on a two-year cycle. We set the budget in the first year, and in the second year we pass a supplemental budget to fill any gaps or distribute any surpluses that might have come up. In 2005, after back to back years of budget deficits, the state ended up with a $317 million surplus that was automatically put into the Tax Relief Account. A big reason for the turnaround was that the state has shifted costs in public safety, education, and human services onto local governments.
Some of the costs the state shifted to the local level include:
· Short-term felony offenders were shifted from state prison to county jails, but the state reimburses counties for only one-quarter of the cost
· Crimnet, the shared computer system designed to link local law enforcement offices was cut by $3.785 million (18 percent)
· Reimbursement rates to hospitals were cut by $120 million.
· County share of intermediate care for the mentally retarded was increased by $10.2 million.
· $50 million in grants to counties for Children and Community services were eliminated.
· Local Government Aid was cut by $150 million
Counties and cities did not have the option to turn felony offenders out on the street or stop providing care to people who have disabilities. The result was increased property taxes.
For a lot of seniors and low-income people, property tax increases hit especially hard because they tax the value of assets without looking at ability to pay. With a surplus in the Tax Relief Account, the Governor and Legislature should not back away from providing property tax relief to the people who shouldered the real burden of turning the state budget around.
If you have comments or questions on this or any other legislative issues, please contact me at (651) 296-1188, by e-mail at rep.leon.lillie@house.mn, or at 353 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, MN 55155.
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