Take Action Today: Stop a Property-Tax Increase

I urge you to contact your state legislators today to oppose a bill to increase Minneapolis property taxes, which is coming to a vote tomorrow morning — Thursday, May 5.

Last fall, many of you contacted the City Council and me with your concerns about property taxes. You told us your property taxes were too high, and we heard you.

That’s why when we passed the budget, we lowered the City’s property-tax increase from the projected 7.5% increase to a 4.7% increase. We did that by making cuts to nearly every part of the City budget.

At that time, we also took an important step to hold down property taxes in 2012 and 2013: we capped non-personnel spending in the old Neighborhood Revitalization Program while making sure that funding for ongoing neighborhood programs continues.

Now, however, a bill at the Legislature — sponsored by Minneapolis Senator Ken Kelash and Minneapolis Representative Phyllis Kahn — would reverse that action. Make no mistake: if passed, this bill would increase your property taxes next year and in 2013 by $10 million.

Representative Kahn’s bill is being heard in a Minnesota House of Representatives committee at the Capitol on Thursday morning — which is why I’m asking you to take action today. (Senator Kelash’s bill has already passed a committee in the Minnesota Senate.)

This bill flies in the face of Minneapolis taxpayers’ wishes and raises property taxes. It reverses at the State Capitol what the City Council and I did on your behalf here in Minneapolis to hold your property taxes down — which you told us forcefully you wanted us to do.

You can help stop this bill: contact your Minneapolis legislators today and tell them to hold the line on property taxes and not force a property-tax increase on you. If you’re not sure who your Minneapolis legislators are, go here and just enter your address. (When you contact your legislators, the House bill number is H.F. 1358; the Senate bill number is S.F. 953.)

On Thursday morning, I will be at the Capitol with Council President Barbara Johnson to testify against this bill. If you’d like to join us and come tell House members yourself why they shouldn’t raise your taxes, here’s the information you need:

What: A hearing on H.F. 1358, a bill to increase your taxes.

When: This Thursday, May 5, starting at 10:15 a.m.

Where: Room 5, basement of the State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul

Who: House of Representatives Government Operations and Elections Committee (Click here to see the list of committee members.)

But whether you call, email or testify in person, make your voices heard like you did last fall. We can’t allow legislators in Saint Paul to ignore Minneapolis taxpayers and impose a property-tax increase on us.