Once again we are asked to vote for or against needed financial support for our school students. Of course, we have already voted for school board representatives who have unanimously identified the need for added finances. Our family is all-in with our school board and will vote “yes” on both ballot propositions.
Our elected state government has set up a system whereby we use property taxes to partially fund our schools. Property taxes are the only fund sources available for our school board to meet the capital and instructional needs they have identified. Two “yes” votes will mean a modest increase in our property taxes, but our property taxes in Cook County will not be out of line. This despite the economic challenges of a county with a sparse population spread over a large geographic area, along with a relatively small student population.
There are all sorts of statistics out there on property taxes and comparisons can be difficult. For 2016, the site “tax-rates.org” puts Minnesota near the middle of the country with a median property tax of $2,098 per home, which is 1.04 percent of home value and 3.1 percent of median income.
Cook County property tax average was well below the state average with $1,016 at .41 percent of home value and 1.88 percent of median income.
Looking at the four Arrowhead counties, Cook County was below average for actual tax, the absolute lowest for percent of home value, and below average for percent of income. So the very modest increase sought by the school district will certainly not put us out of line. Taxes are a simple reality in strong communities with strong schools.
The other thing for homeowners to remember is that they may be eligible for either of two tax refund programs for homestead property, the regular (“circuit breaker”) and special refunds, and homestead owners over age 65 may be eligible to defer their taxes.
Please support our schools and vote “yes” twice in November.
Dick and Bonnie Swanson
Grand Marais
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