I think about it every time a DFL chantingpointbot starts talking about things like “proof” and “evidence”.<\/p>\n Which brings us to this piece in MNPublius<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>which gurgitates one of the most alarmingly cynical memes the DFL and media (pardon the redundancy) are trying to foist on the less-literate:<\/p>\n It\u2019s been well-documented that cuts to local government aid cause property taxes to rise.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now, I spent the weekend going through the text of every piece of legislation that led to a freeze, reallocation or cut <\/em>in Local Government Aid in the past ten years [1<\/a>], looking for a passage that read like “Local Governments are required to raise taxes to make up for the change in the aid formula”.<\/p>\n Because there is none<\/em>.<\/p>\n Local Government Aid, for the umpteenth time, was originally intended to redistribute money state tax money to poor outstate school districts and cities, so that towns like Hibbing could rebuild old schools, or Thief River Falls could have a waste-water treatment plant, or Osage could get a new police car.<\/p>\n It’s become a vehicle for the state’s largest (and most DFL-addled) cities, Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Duluth, to launder their own rapacious spending throug the state budget without having to account to city and county taxpayers.<\/p>\n My own analysis ([in the original MNPublius <\/em>posting – Ed]) shows that property taxes have steadily risen as state aid has dropped.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But Jeff’s piece doesn’t show where the causation, the coercion, the cause <\/em>is.\u00a0 Because yes – as Local Government Aid has slowed, cities have had to decide whether to make their own tax base cover the difference, or to do without.\u00a0 Some cities, like west-metro Mound (which hasn’t gotten LGA in years) made the tough choices, cut the budgets, and learned to make do.<\/p>\n Others, like Minneapolis and Saint Paul and Brainerd – addled by DFL mayors and\/or city councils – raised property taxes by far <\/em>more than the cuts to LGA.<\/p>\n At any rate – Rosenberg’s premise , that “cuts to LGA force property tax hikes”, is a canard, a shrill chanting point that is based in no fact whatsoever.<\/p>\n A local government can opt to keep taxes rock-steady no matter what happens to LGA, and trim what’s needed; they can also make the case to their citizens and taxpayers to keep paying the bills that were formerly paid by taxpayers around the rest of the state, and let the chips fall come election time; in cities like Mound, it’s a dodgy proposition; in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the DFL will keep getting elected no matter what.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a simple reason for that: Cities provide essential services that residents don\u2019t want cut. So instead of cutting back on public safety or filling potholes, local governments are forced to make up for lost revenues by increasing property taxes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There’s a non-sequitur there – one the DFL is counting on The People not to notice; cities do <\/em>provide essential services.\u00a0 They also provide plenty of non-essentials.\u00a0 In Saint Paul, I pay for the best urban fire department in the US; I’m happy to do it.\u00a0 We have a decent police department; there’s room for improvement, but they’d OK.<\/p>\n We have a lot of libraries. I love libraries – I practically grew up in one.\u00a0 But as libraries become home to fewer and fewer books, it pains me to say we could perhaps do with just a tad fewer of them and not make them any less available.<\/p>\n We have a public works department.\u00a0 I pay them to fill in potholes.\u00a0 They get to it – eventually<\/a>.\u00a0 Clearly there is fat to be cut here. They also plow the streets.\u00a0 They do an adequate job – one that could easily be privatized, along with many other city-paid services.<\/p>\n We have a park and rec department. I love parks. I love recreation.\u00a0 The city has dozens of “Community Centers” which serve as public service catchalls for every variety of recreation and social program imaginable.\u00a0 There would seem to be room for some consolidation.\u00a0 And frankly, mowing the grass in the parks could be cut waaaay back.<\/p>\n I also pay for a city Human Rights office that fully duplicates the functions of the Ramsey County and State human rights offices, all located within a few blocks of each other in downtown Saint Paul. I pay for a mayoral staff with nineteen <\/a>along with a phalanx of assistants and other hangers-on.<\/p>\n Could any of these <\/em>be trimmed before we start laying off cops and firemen?\u00a0 I think so.<\/p>\n Will it happen?\u00a0 In Saint Paul, probably not. For all the Mayor’s whinging, the city’s government-dependence-addled electorate will likely increase property taxes to cover whatever they lose from LGA.\u00a0 Most of the people who care about tax rates have already fled the cities to places with more responsible, responsive governments.<\/p>\n Now – if you live in a city with a more responsible government, the answer may be different.\u00a0 The mayor may not <\/em>be able to justify the expense.<\/p>\n But it’s a matter of choice.\u00a0 Not “force”, as Jeff, the media and the DFL (pardon the redundancy) would like you to think.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the MNGOP has a \u201csolution\u201d for that: take away the right of local governments to make their own decisions and force them to cut essential services. That\u2019s the impact of HF481, a bill by House Republicans that would make local governments\u2019 budget decisions for them by outlawing any property tax increases in the 2012 fiscal year.<\/p>\n That sounds nice, except for one thing \u2014 if property taxes are frozen, that means services must be cut. Apparently, an all-cuts budget that slashes $6.2 billion in state funding for things like education isn\u2019t good enough for the MNGOP. They want to force your city government to cut even more services.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/imgs.xkcd.com\/comics\/correlation.png\")
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