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A Balance Between Property Tax Relief and Public Investment
Minnesota conservatives are complaining about the property tax provisions of the 2013 omnibus tax act, asserting in an e-mail that too much of the property tax aid and credit increase in the act is going to Minnesota counties, cities, towns, and school districts and will not translate into property tax reductions. Minnesota 2020 debunked some of these idea's in an article last week, explaining that the 2013 tax act is providing the single largest increase in the homeowners’ property tax refund (PTR) in nearly four decades. In addition, significant new tax relief is being distributed to renters through the renters’ PTR…
Blueprints for Rural Progress: Critical Need for Federal Development Funding
Take away USDA Rural Development dollars and you start taking away small town assets, such as nursing homes, hospital expansions, access to affordable housing, wastewater infrastructure, and business development. Minnesota 2020’s latest report, Blueprints for Rural Progress highlights the importance of these community development programs in sustaining a strong rural way of life. Congress is currently rewriting the farm bill, which includes rural development funding, in a climate of sequester-induced, across-the-board federal budget cuts. Depending on how deep Rural Development cuts are in the next farm bill, Minnesota communities will have a tougher time financing these programs.
