Editorial: Property taxpayers should come first
Published 10:06 am Friday, December 2, 2011
We were going to pen an editorial in reaction to the news of a $876 million state surplus. But then we received a statement from Alan Oberloh, president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and mayor of Worthington.
He said what we wanted to say:
“There is no doubt that the state budget was balanced on the backs of Minnesota property taxpayers.
“State policy makers should take a deep breath, put the money in the bank and wait until the February forecast to determine if this surplus is real.
“If indeed the state has a surplus, policy makers ought to use this money to stop the property tax pain that has hurt so many Minnesota families and businesses.
“Property taxpayers bailed the state out of their fiscal problems and they should be first in line for relief.”
We couldn’t agree more. State lawmakers, we urge you to follow Oberloh’s advice.