Column: Phil Krinkie, Guest Column

We all know this game and most of us have played it from time to time. If we mess up or do something we shouldn’t we quickly pin the cause of our actions on someone else. This is a response most of us learned early in life; if something goes wrong, find someone or something to blame. The most common excuses are well known and repeated often: The dog did it, you didn’t remind me, it wasn’t my fault. Sometimes we might even blurt out one of these lines before we are accused, for fear that we might be guilty of some yet to be identified infraction.

In the world of politics the blame game has been developed into an art form, one side always accusing the other side of some act that has caused hardship for thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands.

The most recent political episode of the “blame game” that has played out at the capitol is over property taxes. Every fall as the leaves in Minnesota turn bright colors and so do the faces of many local elected officials as they struggle to explain their vote for higher property tax levies. This annual fall performance of the “blame game” has been played out in our state for decades.

The reason for this contest is quiet simple; state legislators want to claim credit for holding down property tax rates. Therefore they transfer billions of state dollars to city and county governments to hold down property tax rates. In turn local governments lobby for more money from the state to enable them to keep property tax rates down while continuing to grow local government spending. If cities and counties don’t receive more aid or if there is a reduction in property tax subsidies funded from the state; they quickly blame state legislators for property tax increases.

This fall the property tax blame game has heated up more than usual because of a change made this year in property tax relief legislation. Under this change the current Market Value Homestead Credit program was replaced with a new Homestead Market Value Exclusion program. The HMVE provides for a portion of each home’s market value to be excluded from its value for property tax calculations. The amount of value excluded is directly proportional to the amount of credit the home received under the old Market Value Homestead Credit.

The new system allows for the elimination of the MVHC without a significant increase in homeowner property taxes by having all types of property share the burden of providing the tax relief to homeowners. Effectively, the cost of the formerly state paid credit is now shifted relatively evenly among all property taxes (including homesteads).

No matter what you call it or how you redistribute state tax dollars to local governments; property tax relief programs reduce tax transparency and accountability for local government spending.

At this point you should realize that neither side wins in the blame game and the taxpayer always loses. If you are concerned about how much you pay in property taxes; get a copy of your city and county budget to examine how your tax dollars are being spent. Your local elected officials decide how and where to spend your tax dollars no matter how much or how little is doled out by the state. State property tax relief is just like pain medication; once the relief wears off the pain continues.

Any state property tax aids to local governments is not tax relief; it’s just a tax shift. The state uses your income and sales tax dollars to buy down your property taxes. It’s not relief; it’s just a shift of the tax burden with the state picking winners and losers. Instead of playing the blame game, legislators should focus on eliminating all property tax relief programs for four reasons.

1. Property tax relief programs only confuse property owners and cloud what cities and counties really spend.

2. If residents want or demand more local services they should pay the full cost of the services and not expect state taxpayers to bear a portion of the bill.

3. Local services such as fire, police, snow removal and street repair should not be based on the value of a home, but on the value of the service.

4. Ending the shell game of property tax relief programs will prevent legislators from trying to curry favor from taxpayers.

The state constitution reads “taxes shall be uniform upon the same class subjects” therefore legislators should endeavor to provide a simple and uniform system of property taxes; not a convoluted rubric of aids that serve only to confuse and confound the average property owner. It’s time to retire the “blame game” and provide property owners with tax transparency.

Phil Krinkie, a former eight-term Republican state rep from Lino Lakes who chaired the House Tax Committee for a while, is president of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.