Am I the only one concerned when a local business is faced with a tax increase from $39,000 per year to $96,000? Does anyone else consider that these local lodging establishments are paying $3,000 per month and will be faced with $8,000 per month? Whether the state of MN taxing body says so or not, we should all be up in arms over the likes of this. Does anyone sincerely think that a resort in Grand Marais can absorb this? I’m impressed as well as surprised if these folks are paying their current taxes. Has anyone considered what taking $60,000 from the bottom line does to the value of this resort? I’d like to see some outrage.
Oh, and if the county officials are paying any attention, the best form of economic development would be to lower levies so people could afford to invest in Cook County.
Second: I’d urge everyone who gets to vote for a county commissioner to ask hard questions and remember the answers. Cook County won the lottery with the 1% money, and just like many lottery winners, we will soon be worse off than before the money came in. If the Community Center is actually built without a sound plan for paying the bills, we are lost. As it stands, any money that has been traditionally used for recreation will have to go to support this facility.
This coming election has candidates that will make sure the center is affordable. The “build it and they will come” idea was a theme for a movie. A business plan that works is not asking too much.
Third: Crazy idea—why don’t we take the EDA budget/levy and give it, along with a lot in the business park, to any company who will locate here for 10 years and employ 10 people at living wages? If this were done for five years, we’d be thriving.
The increase in levy request is just about as crazy as this idea. Only this idea might actually produce what’s needed. Jobs for families.
Judy Motschenbacher
Tofte
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