Accessibility menu
State Representative Bob Dettmer
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4124
For more information contact: Austin Bleess 651-296-5529
NEWS COLUMN
TAXATION WITH REPRESENTATION
By Bob Dettmer
State Representative
District 52A
One of the founding principles of our nation is the idea that individuals should not be taxed by their governing authority without having representation before that very authority. Indeed, taxation without representation was a battle cry for our nation’s independence. This session I have introduced a bill based on this very concept, though I must confess I have no revolutionary intentions beyond merely having local units of government be accountable to citizens whose tax dollars fund their operations.
My bill, which is also being authored by Sen. Ray Vandeveer, would apply to local Watershed Districts and simply calls for a measure of oversight and accountability over these bodies. Watershed Districts were created by the Legislature in 1955 as local units of government charged to deal with water-related problems, and are formed based upon boundaries of natural watersheds in an area. Such watersheds cross over political boundaries and Minnesota has 46 watershed districts. The Districts are operated by a board of appointed managers and are required to have a citizen’s advisory committee to provide input, but are comprised of no elected officials. Among the powers given Watershed Districts is the power assess properties and levy taxes.
The work that these Districts do to preserve and protect our natural resources is very important and I fully support their efforts to efficiently and openly carry out the statutory charge to protect our states waters. Important and beneficial as this work is, the powers granted to the appointed managers of these Districts should not be above that of the principle that taxing authority should rest only with elected representatives.
Watershed Districts as directed by appointed managers are granted tax levy authority to affect your tax bill to fund their projects. This is the problem that my bill seeks to address. The bill would require that these districts submit their proposed budget to the County Boards of which the District lies, and provides for tie-breaking procedures in situations where the District lies in an even number of counties. The County Boards would then have the authority to accept or deny the proposed budget and tax levy, thus providing a measure of accountability over your property tax dollars and Watershed District spending.
This measure of accountability of Watershed Districts to the County Boards ensures that voters and an elected body can provide oversight to prevent against over-taxing and potential abuses of the District’s assessment authority. This bill in no way solely targets Watershed Districts: this principle idea should be applied to all units of government with taxing authority. In fact I happen to believe that most Watershed Districts are well operated and their projects are of great importance to our water management, but they should not be immune from accountability to taxpayers. There should only be taxation with representation.
-- 30 --
News Items
- LIMITED SPENDING AND COMPETITVE TAXES GROW OUR ECONOMY - (Posted: Jan 11 2013 3:29PM)
- BOB DETTMER SWORN IN TO FOURTH TERM AS STATE REPRESENTATIVE - (Posted: Jan 11 2013 3:28PM)
- April 5 Legislative Update - (Posted: 2012-04-05 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.