Fiscal Policy Archive
VIDEO: MN 2020 Property Tax Report
This week, Minnesota 2020 released a report showing the impact of the 2013 tax bill on property taxes. Because of the historic homestead credit…
Delivering Dollars: 2014 Homeowner Property Tax Report
Download full report (high quality or small size) View online at Scribd All files contain complete appendix data In 2014, Minnesota homeowners will experience…
Local Government Aid: Actions Speak Louder than Words
Gubernatorial candidates of all political persuasions support city Local Government Aid (LGA), at least while on the campaign trail. After all, LGA is an…
2013 Tax Act: Best Deal for Homeowners in 30 Years
Over the last three decades, years in which statewide homeowner property taxes fell were rare. The largest reduction occurred from 2001 to 2002 and…
Comparing the 2001 and 2013 Tax Acts: Which was Better?
Over the last thirty years, the tax acts of 2001 and 2013 stand out in terms of providing homeowner property tax relief. The largest…
Finally, a Halt in Escalating City Property Taxes
From 2002 to 2013, city budgets shrank while city property taxes increased, thanks to rapidly declining state aid. Legislative actions in 2013 and 2014…
General Fund Revenue Remains Well Below 2000 Level
True to form, the anti-tax right continues to rail against the tax increases enacted by a progressive legislature and governor in 2013. However, real…
Conservative Excuses Aside, Minnesota Still Outperforms Wisconsin
Since the 2010 election of progressive Governor Mark Dayton in Minnesota and conservative Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin, the Gopher State has outperformed the…
Tax Rates Fall For Most Minnesotans Thanks to Progressive Tax Acts
Taxes will decline for most Minnesotans—particularly middle-income families—as a result of progressive tax legislation enacted during the 2013 and 2014 sessions. A July 7…
New Data Show Big Drop in City Revenue, Spending
As governor from 2003 to 2011, Tim Pawlenty chided local governments for failing to "live within their means." A recent report reveals that T-Paw's…
2014 Homeowner Property Tax Reduction is Wide & Deep
The fact that Minnesota property taxes will decline in 2014 for the first time in twelve years is well established. However, a new simulation…
Price of Government Projected to Hit All-Time Low
Despite all of the crying from the right about tax increases, Minnesota’s “Price of Government” is projected to reach the lowest level in its…
Progressive Leadership Reduces Taxes for Most Minnesotans
For over a year now, Minnesota conservatives have been complaining about the tax increases enacted under progressive control of state government. However, an analysis…
2014 Tax Acts Increased Tax Fairness
Minnesota’s tax system is regressive, meaning that low and moderate income households pay a higher percentage of their income in state and local taxes…
Tax Fairness: How Minnesota Compares to Other States
Low- and middle-income households pay a disproportionate share of Minnesota state and local taxes relative to high income households. However, these taxpayers can take…
Minnesota is a Giver State
While Pennsylvania is the home of America's independence, Minnesota is actually one of the nation's most independent states when it comes to federal funding…
Minnesota Moves Ahead: Tax Fairness in the 50 States
Download full report (pdf) View online at Scribd Over the course of the last decade, state and local taxes in Minnesota became increasingly regressive,…
Smart Use of Surplus? You decide
After a decade balancing recurring budget deficits, this year legislators faced a more pleasant, but equally daunting task. Thanks to the budget balancing accomplishments…
Most County Governments Shrinking
Despite a large increase in county taxes over the last decade, county revenue and spending in constant dollars have declined significantly since 2003, based…
LGA Should be Adjusted to Keep Up With City Costs
A sensible way to maintain the property tax relief value of city Local Government Aid (LGA) is to annually increase the aid appropriation to…
Progressives Won’t Win Points from Right on Tax Cuts
As Minnesota's legislature debates another round of tax cuts, progressives must remember one key element: no matter how much they cut taxes, conservatives will…
Frozen State Aid is Declining State Aid
Despite the most far reaching revisions to the city Local Government Aid (LGA) formula in two decades, lawmakers left out one major piece when…
Reducing Income Inequality Doesn’t End with Minimum Wage Campaign
On Monday, progressive state policymakers and fair wage supporters were in a celebratory mood, as Governor Dayton signed into law the first Minnesota minimum…
2014 Homeowner Property Tax Relief is Widespread
In 2014, total statewide property taxes will decline for the first time in twelve years, with homeowners seeing the largest tax reductions. A new…
New Estate Tax Break Comes with High Cost in Revenue, Fairness
While most provisions of Minnesota’s recently enacted tax law improved tax efficiency and fairness, it also provided large tax breaks to some of the…