Regarding the letter last week from Tom Steward of the Center of the American Experiment, just so we all know his voice is not one of a non-partisan. The Center misses that center idea by a far right long shot. The letter criticizing MNsure for property tax increases has some validity as most of us know but a balanced explanation and understanding of property tax challenges was more political talk and selection of quotes than explaining why “Higher property taxes?” are the case as suggested in the headline.
Two related explanations show up in another News- Herald article on county budget discussions. Growth of health insurance costs is one explanation in that they reflect the overly generous – in my opinion and experience – insurance coverage and cost sharing for all county employees including the commissioners. The second explanation is the 4 percent (COLA) increase in all county salaries. This on top of current excellent living wages for county employees seems excessive. There must be other opportunities for cost cutting that does no harm to our great county and community.
Drafting a budget may be the most difficult job for a commissioner but it is also probably the most important in terms of the widespread impact for all county residents – a 19.88 percent increase for 2017 seems substantially beyond reason.
Bob Reid
Lutsen and Bloomington
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