The best thing about the Dec. 1 Truth in Taxation hearing was the platform it provided for Lloyd Speck’s virtuoso performance of his anti-government/ anti-tax monologue. He is very good, and it was a pleasure to watch him. Truly.
My father would have enjoyed it. He was a laborer in a lumber mill, and with six kids, he did not have much extra for government.
Partly because of him, however, I came to value local government. It always was there when our family really needed help – with a teenage pregnancy, with our periodic loud, physical confrontations over drink or when too much money went for the wrong things and the groceries became scarce. I was grateful for the public employees, from teachers to police officers, who so clearly cared about our wellbeing.
These thoughts in mind, I was taken aback when someone snarled at me as I left the taxation hearing. With a sneer, he asserted that property tax increases are well and good for me because I can afford them. Message: You’re not like us.
Really? I do not think of myself as much removed from that working class family. I’ve worked since I was 13. And at age 70, full retirement still is not an option. I do have an excellent education, but that came via summer farm work and the G.I. Bill earned in Vietnam.
But the snarling sneerer had a point: I can afford my property taxes. Mostly it’s because they are so modest. On a homestead of $290,000 in assessed value, next year we will pay about $1,800 in taxes, $150 a month for all the services we receive. Anywhere else in Minnesota, taxes on that house would range up to three times that amount. And don’t even think of trying to pay taxes on a similar home in Wisconsin.
I came to the taxation meeting to discuss the 19.9 percent levy increase the county board tentatively has set for 2017. I wanted to make the point that the increase is not a result of the county board throwing money around: The board will spend less next year than this. But next year it can’t dip into its reserve fund as it has in previous years.
It quickly became clear, however, that most of the others attending the hearing weren’t there to talk about the 2017 levy: They were there to protest tax increases of 60 or 90 or 150 or even 300 percent.
What initially puzzled me was that it is impossible for a 19.9 percent increase in a county levy to produce tax increases that large. Can’t happen.
So what else was going on?
Here’s what: Large increases in the assessed value of some county properties.
I inquired: The county is now completing a five-year plan to update all land and building records, as required by the Minnesota Department of Revenue. While many assessed values have gone down, some have gone up, a few way up. The county has no control over this state-required process.
The assessed value of others went up because major improvements were made. Or their classification changed. Going from vacant land to seasonal cabin or garage to seasonal cabin or seasonal cabin to commercial use does amazing things to assessed value.
If you add together the tax effects of large increases in assessed value and the large levy increase proposed for 2017, you get the huge percentage tax increases people were protesting at the taxation hearing. I would have loved to know the dollar amounts, too, because if you go from $50 to $100, you have a 100 percent tax increase. Still, wow!
Property owners in that situation should investigate the property tax refund program embedded in the Minnesota income tax; it was designed for this sort of situation, and it most likely will rebate a significant portion of the tax increases.
But when all is said and done, despite all the drama and disagreement, I hope most county taxpayers will be able to see beyond their own situation to the larger, critical needs of our community.
This year was almost a perfect tax storm for Cook County. The board majority has worked hard to deal with that storm and be responsible with taxes. It has no control over increases in assessed value, but it does have a responsibility to protect the services county residents require. It now needs our support to do that. Please communicate that support to your county board member.
Leave a Reply