Make Minnesota Affordable Again
by Senator Nathan Wesenberg
When people talk about “affordable” states, Minnesota is hardly ever brought up. Believe it or not, at one point, it was affordable to live here, and the “American Dream” was achievable for families in our state. But things have changed for the worse. Now, we’re a Midwest outlier in numerous areas.
This year, we’re making a hard push to bring back affordability for families. Our plan focuses on 3 areas: reducing tab fees, lowering property taxes, and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime.
When it comes to tab fees, the numbers are insane. People across the state have sticker shock when it’s time to renew their car registration. It’s one of the top complaints I’ve been hearing about since Democrats drastically increased these fees a few years ago. The five-year average total for registering a new car in Minnesota comes out to about $3,520. When Democrats increased these fees, they said it would pay for roads and bridges. Do we have better roads to show for it? I certainly don’t think so. To make matters worse, North Dakota and South Dakota clock in at $465 and $378, respectively. That’s embarrassing.
We have to tackle these tab fees and get those numbers down. There’s no reason for them to be that high, especially when we don’t have better roads to show for it. As part of our plan, we are putting forward legislation that undoes the harm done by Democrat policies, which would drastically lower these fees, saving drivers over $800 over five years. That’s a start, but we will need to do more.
Another area that has become far too expensive is homeownership. It seems like every year, property taxes rise by unsustainable amounts. Even beyond the already high cost of buying a home, these ever-increasing taxes are making it harder – and in many cases impossible – for many families to afford to own one. Just six years ago, the average age of a first-time homebuyer was about 33. Now it’s up to 40. That’s pretty telling.
We’re at a place where property taxes have been increasing so much and so fast, even people who have lived in their homes for years are being priced out. That’s not right.
That’s why part of our affordability plan caps property taxes at the rate of inflation plus 50% for the population growth for cities and counties over 2,500 residents. It also allows the caveat for rates to be increased, but only through the ballot box.
Again, we’re in this situation because Democrats passed numerous unfunded mandates that cities must adhere to – these unfunded mandates set our cities up for failure. Because of this, we know tackling property taxes will require a balance of property tax caps and eliminating unfunded mandates.
As a side note on this issue, the Tax Foundation frequently publishes tax comparisons between states. For property taxes, Minnesota used to be ranked 17th in the nation. That’s not great, but it’s also not terrible. But due to legislation passed by Democrats that have led to massive increases, our state has dropped six points and now we’re ranked 23rd. That again puts us far behind states like North Dakota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, which are ranked 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively. Why would anyone stay here when our neighboring states fare better? When you look at overall tax ranks that take into account multiple tax factors, it’s even worse – Minnesota is ranked 44th. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
Finally, the last portion is eliminating taxes on tips and overtime. Again, this is commonsense – President Trump did it at the federal level, and passing similar language here would allow Minnesota to conform to federal tax code. This is also just immediate relief for Minnesotans – it allows them to keep more of the money they earned. The Government can barely handle the taxes it collects, so why should we give more? This also helps businesses by allowing them to essentially give their employees a raise without having to increase their own spending. It’s a win-win.
This is a commonsense plan. Minnesota used to be affordable, but Democrats have made that a long-lost past. It’s time we help Minnesota families by passing policies that undo the damage done by Democrats. It’s the only way to move forward and make Minnesota affordable again.