More Property Tax Relief

Picking up from the previous post, we shall consider another point about the 2007 Property Tax Relief Bill that Governor Pawlenty vetoed, which Kalin bemoans in his recent letter to the editor. We have already noted that the bill would have raised $452 million in income taxes to pay for the proposed property tax relief.

Gov. Pawlenty vetoed the bill because it would have created a new 4th tier of individual income taxes at a 9% rate. This would have given Minnesota the third highest tax rate in the nation.

In a rare moment of honest explanation, back on April 30, 2007, Kalin wrote:

"I promised in the campaign to put people before politics. As you may have read, our property tax cuts are financed by a 4th tier income tax at $431,000 for married couples filing jointly."

How can anyone put those two sentences adjacent to each other?!! He actually revealed that the touted property tax relief for the many would be funded by a new income tax on the few. As he thought about it before he voted for this tax increase, he says,

". . . I kept returning to this simple fact: only 61 households in Chisago County would be affected by the top tier income tax rate and nearly every homeowner and Main Street business owner in Chisago County will see real property tax cuts from the Property Tax Relief bill."

Kalin’s belief in socialistic redistribution of wealth genuinely shines through his honesty. It was not too much to ask those making $431,000 to pay extra for the vast majority of us who make less, so our property taxes could be reduced.

He was willing to sacrifice 61 households to a heavier tax load ". . . to put people before politics." I guess those people in the 61 households aren’t people.

As a typical socialist, Kalin desperately wants to be the Sugar Daddy to his constituents by spending someone else’s money. Oh those liberals are generous——with the money of others, not their own.

Kalin, being a poor economist, failed to recognize that those with this income level are a major driving force in the development of jobs in the state. The higher tax rate would put the state at a competitive disadvantage, which are some of the reasons why the Governor vetoed the bill.

In this case, Kalin’s tax relief for us was tax intensification for relatively few—$452 million worth. See our comments on this issue one year ago. When a rookie legislator tells us the above, it is wise to make sure he never becomes a veteran legislator. He is a danger to all of us economically.