Don’t ignore importance of cities

The idea that cities and small towns are desirable for a vibrant, civil and democratic society is a very conservative notion.

That’s why it’s ironic in some respects that the debate at the conservative-led Minnesota Legislature was mostly about the cost of cities and not their value.

The Legislature passed a budget bill that will eventually end local government aid to the larger cities of St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth. The local government aid budgets for other cities were reduced from earlier budgets passed by bipartisan governments.

While Republicans, especially those in outstate areas, contend local government aid was somewhat spared in the otherwise budgetary bloodletting at the Capitol, funding in most cases was held at 2010 levels, and remains far below the levels of 2006.

The cities claim that the result of cuts to local government aid will be higher property taxes. The Minnesota Department of Revenue determined that’s generally true, estimating property taxes go up to cover nearly 2/3 or so of the amount of aid lost.

Republican budget cutters contend it’s not their fault cities raise their property taxes. That’s true to some extent, but as Mankato City Manager Pat Hentges notes, the whole idea of local government aid was to keep property taxes low and competitive in property poor towns, and to equalize property taxes across the state.

That argument didn’t seem to be at the top of the list this year. Hentges argues the debate really wasn’t about reforming the system and discussing how valuable we think cities and small towns are, but rather it was simply about cost and budget.

There’s plenty to think about. Minnesota has always been a small-town state. There are hundreds of small towns that are viable. There are only a few big cities. States like South Dakota have let their small towns go away. States like Wisconsin have several large cities that dominate.

The discussion on local government should include debates about just what kind of a state we want to be: One dominated by big cities with the naturally occurring urban problems, or one that has a good mix of clean metropolitan areas not overly crowded and a good number of small towns that offer the value of communitarianism.

That’s the simple idea that small businesses can serve home-grown markets. It’s the idea that the community, not just official institutions, have a role in educating children, keeping them safe and policing the problems.

It’s the reason crime rates are much lower in small towns and smaller communities. If the populations of small towns in Minnesota were added to the urban populations, you’d likely see all the costs of urban centers increase, thereby leading to increased costs for the state as a whole and its taxpayers.

So, it’s unfortunate the Legislature was not able to have a debate about local government aid in the context of value versus cost.

— Mankato Free Press, May 29