This week, I presented my bill that would eliminate a special property tax for business owners that’s really not so special.
Minnesota’s general tax is levied on all commercial and industrial business and seasonal recreation property owners, who find this tax as a line item in their regular property tax statement. As I’ve heard from many, this tax is responsible for up to 35 percent of a business’ overall property tax obligations.
This is why I’ve sponsored legislation that would help ease the burden of overtaxed small business owners.
The proposal would, over the next six years, repeal the state general tax by eliminating one-sixth of collections equally each year. It also eliminates the inflator clause that automatically increases the financial burdens on business owners each year, and end the autopilot increases the law applies to this tax.
This is a tax that hurts Minnesota’s competitiveness, particularly in rural Minnesota. As it stands today, our state holds the second highest ranking in the country when it comes to commercial and industrial tax rates. Remember, the state general tax is in addition to the normal property tax obligations they pay for schools, county, cities, townships, etc. It costs them nearly $1.8 billion each biennium and, unbelievably, it is sent directly to state government for its use on government programs. There is literally no local benefit whatsoever.
Instituted in 2001 as a “temporary tax,” the state general tax has been inflicting unnecessary financial pain on small business owners for far too long. It’s time for repeal.