Posts filed under ‘Public Policy | Government Affairs’
Help Minnesota residents see what drives public cost increases
The St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial board supports NAIOP Minnesota’s transparency initiative.
“A bill in the Minnesota House … helps understand better what’s driving costs higher and could change taxpayers’ ‘why bother’ attitudes.”
This supportive editorial is based on interviews with Paul Reinke, Senior Director – Development at Haugland Company, Oakdale City Council Member and NAIOP member; Rep. Keith Downey of Edina, chief author in the House; and Kaye Rakow, Director of Public Policy – NAIOP Minnesota.
Some highlights from the editorial:
- Rep. Downey: “We need to understand the spending behind tax increases to understand what can be done.”
- Paul Reinke: “With good information, ‘citizens can plug in constructively and help us’ serve the needs of the community.”
- “Property taxes are an issue of deep concern for local businesses, and we appreciate the work done by the Minnesota chapter of the commercial real estate organization NAIOP and the Minnesota Taxpayers Association.”
The GOP and the DFL have declared job creation as their number one priority of the 2012 session.
While they share that goal, they differ in their approaches.
- DFL Leaders: Our Minnesota Agenda
By Sen. Tom Bakk & Rep. Paul Thissen
Star Tribune, January 22, 2012 - GOP leaders: Our Minnesota Agenda
By Rep. Kurt Zellers & Rep. Matt Dean
Star Tribune, January 22, 2012
More useful government spending reports needed
“To intelligently cope with the influence of spending on property taxes, taxpayers must be able to quickly and easily understand the cost drivers behind local government spending. Financial reporting by object code would provide greater spending transparency for taxpayers.”
Dee Schutte is the executive director of the Litchfield Chamber of Commerce.
Crow River Business, September 2011 edition
Goal to Uncover the Drivers Behind Property Tax Rates
“While taxpayers, including businesses, and elected officials can debate the proper levels of taxes, having a good understanding of the ways in which tax dollars are spent should be an idea on which all sides agree.”
Big Fat Finance Blog, Karen Kroll, June 1, 2011
Writing about NAIOP Minnesota’s transparency project and OpenGovernmentMN.com
Is Tax Relief Still a Possibility?
“Real estate industry backers were rewarded with a receptive audience at the Capitol. For the first time most legislators largely agreed the general levy not only shouldn’t be raised, but indeed be rolled back.” Kaye Rakow, NAIOP Minnesota and Rich Forschler, Faegre Benson talked with MNCAR members.
Read the recap article in the business section of the Star Tribune, June 6, 2011 by Don Jacobson
The Sunlight Weekly Roundup in Washington, DC, writes on NAIOP’s transparency initiative
“There is a group improving local government transparency in Minnesota by pushing for standardized financial reporting with details of the state’s spending including public officials’ salaries and expenses. OpenGovernmentMN.com is proposing a business-like approach “Object Code”, to provide access to data that can be used to create an open public discussion.”
NAIOP’s Public Policy Committee Learns about SAC from the Environmental Services Finance Director for the Met Council
SAC (Sewer Access Charges) applied by the Met Council Environmental Services (MCES) at the time of retrofitting space or redeveloping property have been causing a lot of frustration and confusion among NAIOP members. NAIOP members have expressed a notable change, an inconsistency in the way charges are currently being implemented and a significant increase in cost.
In a nutshell, the steep decline in metro area development has resulted in MCES’ increased costs being spread over fewer payers.
For the commercial real estate industry, it means there is no end in sight near-term for the continuing increases in local SAC charges.
Read about the problem, the impact for the commercial real estate industry, and a quick summary of how the MCES operates.
From the conversation with Jason Willet, finance director for the Met Council’s Environmental Services, at the May 5th Public Policy Committee meeting.
Dissecting city spending
I don’t think I’m unique in not recalling a single time when my tax statement—whether the value of my home was up or down—did not call for more money than I paid the year before … my puzzlement over what caused those constant increases was shared by my equally baffled neighbors. When we asked our elected officials, we were greeted with the usual finger-pointing: the city blamed it on cutbacks in state aid, the state fingered the city for excessive spending. As a result, taxpayers have great difficulty understanding what underlies local spending decisions, including what is mandated by state and federal governments and what local government can control itself.
Read the article.
Read more about standardized object code reporting.
SouthWest Journal, May 2, 2011
More details, more power to the people
Property taxes are necessary, hard to fathom and sometimes painful to pay. They can increase when our property values go down? And the opposite can also be true? Say what?
Hard to fathom is right. But one constant in property taxes is spending by local governments — the cities, counties and school districts whose levies make up most of the property tax bill. Keeping a foot on the brake of local spending is one important way to keep property taxes within reason.
Read more.
Pioneer Press, April 27, 2011
