City of Minneapolis

Dear Friend,

Today, Minneapolis taxpayers lost at the Capitol. This morning, the House of Representatives Government Operations and Elections Committee passed the bill that will raise Minneapolis property taxes by $10 million in 2012 and 2013. City Council President Barbara Johnson and I were there and testified against the bill, on your behalf.

Theres some good news: in just 24 hours, you generated stacks of phone messages and emails to legislators. Your responsiveness made a difference: as a result your efforts, we won more votes for Minneapolis taxpayers. We will be asking you to help again, especially when it comes to closed-pension reform.

So what can you do now? The first thing is to thank the representatives who voted with Minneapolis taxpayers — their names are below and you can find their contact information here. I’d especially like you to thank Minneapolis Representatives Marion Greene and Frank Hornstein

But this fight isnt over, so theres more you can do. These bills H.F. 1358 in the House and S.F. 953 in the Senate will now come to the floor of the House and Senate for a vote. The trick is that we dont know when this will happen in fact, we may have no notice at all so you should keep calling and emailing your Minneapolis legislators. to let them know you oppose this tax increase. (If you’re not sure who represents you at the Capitol, go here and just enter your address.)

As I wrote yesterday, we heard you last fall when you told us your property taxes were too high, and we did two things: the City Council and I brought down the property-tax increase for 2011, and we held down property-tax increases in 2012 and 2013 by capping non-personnel spending in the old Neighborhood Revitalization Program, while making sure that ongoing neighborhood programs are effective and transparent.

Now, unfortunately, some at the Legislature want to step in, undo that tax relief and force a tax increase on you. This is all the more frustrating as the City of Minneapolis has been fiscally responsible: we spend 7% less than we did 10 years ago, have paid down $130 million in debt and have restored the City’s AAA credit rating, which saves taxpayers money.

I cant guarantee that we will win this fight, but I can guarantee that your calls and emails to your legislators will make sure they know how you feel about it.

Sincerely,

Mayor R.T. Rybak
City of Minneapolis

Voted with Minneapolis taxpayers

Rep. Marion Greene (DFL Minneapolis)
Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL – Minneapolis)
Rep. Michael Nelson (DFL – Brooklyn Park)
Rep. Tim O’Driscoll (R – Sartell)
Rep. Bev Scalze (DFL – Little Canada)
Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL – Golden Valley)
 
Voted against Minneapolis taxpayers

Rep. Michael Beard (R Shakopee)
Rep. David Hancock (R – Bemidji) 
Rep. Carol McFarlane (R – White Bear Lake)
Rep. Rich Murray (R – Albert Lea)
Rep. Joyce Peppin (R – Rogers)
Rep. Duane Quam (R – Byron)
Rep. Tim Sanders (R – Blaine)
Rep. Steve Simon (DFL – St. Louis Park)
Rep. Dean Urdahl (R – Grove City)

P.S. To learn more about how Im working to address the issues affecting our city, sign up for my e-mail update , check out my website or follow my blog.