The JOBZ project should be reformed.
The proposed LGA increase is not a property tax relief solution and local units of government will eat it up before it ever had a chance of making it back to the property owners. The property taxpayers should receive the property tax relief directly, or it will get eaten up by every administrator and department head in government. No direct relief will occur the way this bill is written.
The energy tax increases even go against core Democrat principles and are mystifying to many Blue Dogs out here. What ever happened to only taxing the rich......or getting the rich to pay their fair share? At least it sounded good on the evening news and people understood it even if it was wrong. The energy taxes are the most regressive forms of taxation, and by that I mean they hurt our poorest citizens first.
Senate passes tax bill; JOBZ project in danger
"I think we've got a collision course here with respect to a governor's veto," the Senate's leading Republican said. "It's unfortunate. This is not a good bill for Minnesota."
By PATRICIA LOPEZ, Star Tribune
Last update: April 2, 2008 - 9:30 PM
Designed to help close the state's budget gap, the bill would increase revenues by $150 million in 2008-09, in part by raising utility tax rates, closing a loophole on foreign operating corporations and relying on an accounting shift to capture a one-time gain.
