Seeing taxes rise is never a welcome sight. But with a little perspective, it becomes clear that Albert Lea is not particularly hard-hit by property taxes, compared to other cities our size in rural Minnesota &045; even when you factor in the increases coming in 2003.

It doesn’t make the one-time increases any more palatable, but it provides some comfort. The city is basically in the middle of the pack or lower among outstate cities with populations of 9,000 or more, according to a Minnesota Citizens League annual study.

In 2002, thanks to property tax reform and local levies that barely budged, the average landowner saw their taxes drop dramatically. Albert Lea and Austin were two of the three sizable cities in rural Minnesota with the lowest taxes.

In 2003, last year’s decrease will be erased and some more will be added on top of it, but in the end, the city doesn’t appear to be overtaxed compared to its counterparts.

As a little perspective often does, that should make paying for the courthouse project and school referendum a little easier to swallow. Taxpayers will have to bear the costs, but the cost of not making improvements may have been more severe. The tradeoff should leave the area better off in the big picture.

Tribune editorials represent the opinion of the newspaper’s management and editorial staff.