Education, Health Care, and Fair Taxes
May 8th, 2009 at 3:03 pm By Chris ShieldsHere’s what’s making news today:
ThankLGA: Richfield homeowners fight for fair property taxes
Minnesota 2020′s own Jeff Van Wychen joined Richfield homeowners this week to talk about how LGA cuts are sending property taxes through the roof.
“Homeowners gathered Wednesday night to voice their frustration with rising property taxes and called on the state to protect property tax relief programs such as LGA from the budget ax. Joining homeowners were Richfield Mayor Debbie Goettel and property tax expert Jeff Van Wychen.”
St. Cloud Times: Plans for Northstar bus-link lot get OK
“The lot would be used this year as the staging point for the proposed Northstar Link commuter coach. The Northstar Link would connect St. Cloud and Big Lake, delivering riders to the commuter rail line that will run between Big Lake and Minneapolis, said David Tripp, executive director of St. Cloud Metro Bus.”
MPR: Tax bill heads to House and Senate
There are needs in education and health care, we need to raise revenue to do it, progressive taxes are the fairest way. Makes sense to me.
“The latest DFL tax plan would increase the income tax rate to 9 percent for married couple making more than $250,000. Taxes on beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages would rise for the first time in more than 20 years. And credit card companies that charge interest rates higher than 15 percent would be hit with a surtax.
The revenue would be dedicated to schools, hospitals and nursing homes. Earlier House and Senate tax bills called for substantially bigger tax increases to help erase the state’s $4.6 billion budget deficit. That’s why Democrats are describing the $1 billion bill as a compromise.”
Rochester Post-Bulletin: More students enroll in advanced placement courses
MinnPost: Minnesota’s budget shortfall is so bad even public safety is taking a hit
“Likewise, even with all the talk of budget cutting to fix the state’s deficit, it was surprising, too, when Sen. Linda Higgins, DFL-Minneapolis, and Rep. Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul, reported a final 2010-11 package of $1.8 billion – nearly 3 percent less for courts, cops and corrections than in the current biennium.”
Pioneer Press: Dakota County cities look to share more services
“As cities once again face the loss of state aid, a partnership that helped bring about Dakota County’s joint emergency dispatch center is getting a makeover.
The High Performance Partnership, or HiPP, is a steering committee that city officials formed in 2003 – after state aid to cities took a major hit – to find opportunities to cooperate and reduce the cost of government services. The group hopes to ferret out new ideas and begin work on them at its May 13 meeting.”
Budget Bites: New budget bill raises revenues to fund education and health care
Once again, the policy gurus at Budget Bites break down a great proposal.
LikeTags: Advanced Placement, Dakota County, LGA, Northstar, property taxes, Transit
