Tax tweak in Minneapolis to fund public housing security

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Tax tweak in Minneapolis to fund public housing security

Updated: September 15, 2012 - 6:58 PM

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Security has been a big concern at the city's public housing units lately, but at least two more cops will be patroling the halls because of a property tax tweak last week.

The city's Board of Estimate and Taxation, a panel that sets the maximum property tax levies, approved a small addition to Mayor R.T. Rybak's proposed 1.7 percent property tax increase.

The change, which amounts to about $6,400 more from city taxpayers, allows the city to leverage $193,000 in unused financial disparity funds that it would have otherwise lost.

"I believe it's a wise and prudent move to leverage this because ... for $6,000 we get close to $200,000 to be used to put police in public housing," Rybak said. That would pay for two more officers to provide security, which had been cut.

The 1.7 percent overall tax increase won't be spread evenly. City staff say that 69.8 percent of residential parcels will see property taxes drop. Only 2.9 percent will see taxes go up more than 1.5 percent.