This is absolutely rediculous. I just got my property tax statement. My property tax is going to go up 15% this year. I really got double whammied - I voted for an education levy and THEN they increased the value of my house, so I got smacked both ways.
The part that REALLY drives me crazy though, is that some body down in the state capital must really think we voters are a bunch of MORONS, because they are going to approve increasing (did you catch that? INCREASING) our taxes to give us property tax relief. Seriously, are we really that dumb as taxpayers? Do we really think it's relief if we pay more in income taxes so we can get some relief from our property taxes? The only relief is that we pay regularly instead of having to write out one big check 2 times a year - but you are going to make me pay more taxes to make up for my more taxes?
Ok, I understand that at the end of the year someone might give me a deduction on y taxes based on my income tax to relieve me of my property tax, but WHY NOT JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!?!? I'm already paying property tax, please spare me the "relief" that you are offering by increasing tax on my income.
In fact, don't increase taxes for education either - at least not until you develop a system that works. in Minnesota 27% of high school graduates complete a college degree. If high school education is to prepare students for college, we're failing miserably. If they are to be competitive in the work force after high school, that's not working either. I don't think this is a problem you fix by throwing MORE money at it. Education needs to be treated lilke a business. If you are successful, you get rewarded (with a few exceptions for schools that need money to become competetive, which I really think is the exception - not the rule.)
Anyway, I've ranted long enough and most people will think I'm off my rocker anyway, so I'll sign off for now.
$900 million income tax increase is in the mix
Senate DFLers are considering two possibilities of increasing income
taxes primarily for education spending. A Republican senator was
appalled.
By Patricia Lopez, Star Tribune
Senate DFLers are working on a nearly $1 billion income tax increase
proposal that could wind up boosting most Minnesotans' income taxes to
pay primarily for education spending.Senate
Taxes Chairman Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said Wednesday that the caucus was
"about evenly split" between two income tax plans and was supposed to
make a choice today, with a final vote by the full Senate due as early
as Saturday as part of an education funding bill. One of the
proposals being considered would raise income tax rates across the
board to 1999 levels, essentially wiping out the 2000 reductions, and
would create a fourth tier for the wealthiest Minnesotans. The second
plan would simply add a fourth tax rate that could go as high as 10
percent, Bakk said. That would give Minnesota the highest income tax
rate in the nation. The state's existing top rate is 7.85 percent. Only three states have top tax rates of 9 percent or more. Bakk
said he does not support that option and prefers the across-the-board
increase, saying that all Minnesotans should contribute to higher
spending on education. Money raised would allow the Senate to
nearly double its K-12 spending, with funding not only for special
education, but also for general classroom formula increases to
districts across the state. Bakk said there also would be funding for
early learning and tuition relief for higher education. 2000 tax cuts 'unsustainable' "We need to be honest about the fact that the (2000) tax cuts were unsustainable," Bakk said. He
said that final figures weren't in, but that the Senate proposal
probably would tip the scales at about $900 million or more. The
alternative, he said, would be bare-bones education increases and
paltry property tax relief. "There is no money for what we need to do" without a general tax increase, he said. Even
without details, Republicans complained of sticker shock on Tuesday.
"I'm not hard-core against tax increases," said Sen. Geoff Michel,
R-Edina. "I've tried to look at transportation and a gas tax increase
in a separate box. But it seems like there's no balance here. I'm
amazed at the appetite for spending." Michel predicted that the prospect of multiple tax increases "will unite Republicans with the governor like nothing else could." An
omnibus tax bill presented Wednesday also would increase the statewide
business property tax, although it also would lower some business taxes
and contains $376 million of property tax relief for homeowners. That
bill could come up for a floor vote by Friday. Bakk acknowledged
that even Senate DFLers are divided, but mostly over which type of
income tax increase to support. He said that Senate Majority Leader
Larry Pogemiller, of Minneapolis, was among those who preferred a
fourth-tier tax rate that taps only the highest-income Minnesotans.
That is similar to what House DFL leaders have proposed, although their
top rate would be 9 percent and would raise about half of what the
Senate plans would generate. Pogemiller deferred comment on the
bill to Bakk, as tax chairman, but has said earlier that a tax
incidence study recently released by the state Revenue Department
bolsters the argument for a fourth tier tax rate. That study showed
that earners at the highest income levels pay a smaller proportion in
overall state taxes than middle-class Minnesotans. 'Not that scary' Bakk
said Minnesotans would find that an across-the-board tax increase was
"not that scary," once the numbers came out. A family making $50,000 a
year, he said, "would probably be looking at a $30 or $40 increase a
year. They'd get that back many times over in property tax relief and
better schools." The 2000 income tax cuts produced fairly modest
relief for middle-income taxpayers, with taxes dropping about $50 a
year for those making $50,000. At $500,000, income taxes dropped by
nearly $1,400. But Brian McClung, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's spokesman,
said that's not the only consideration. The proposed increases, he
said, are piling up in every direction: gasoline tax, sales tax, income
tax. "This state is not going to have the highest tax rate in the
country," McClung said. "It's not going to have an across-the-board tax
increase. If there's anything that's been clear, it's that the governor
does not support massive tax hikes when we have a surplus." DFLers, McClung said, have "added a dessert wing to the all-you-can-eat buffet. It's not happening. The governor will veto it." Patricia Lopez • 651-222-1288 • By PATRICIA LOPEZ plopez@startribune.com | 
