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Editorial: Let's make sure the watchdog has teeth

Voters said "Keep it." Now the BET must perform.

Last update: November 5, 2009 - 10:15 AM

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The Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) lives. The effort begun by retiring City Council Member Paul Ostrow almost a year ago to reorganize and streamline decisionmaking in the state's largest city came down to a single charter amendment question on Tuesday's ballot, to allow the City Council to take over the BET's role. The ballot question failed. (This newspaper recommended its passage.)

Yet, in one sense, it succeeded. As a result of the charter change move, more Minneapolis voters now know that the City Council and mayor don't make taxing and spending decisions alone. Rather, the city's tax ceiling is set by the BET after hearing recommendations from the mayor, the council and the Park and Recreation Board. Two BET members are elected at-large; the other four members of the estimate board are the mayor, the City Council president, the chair of the council's ways and means committee and a Park Board member.

Greater voter understanding of this process should lead to more scrutiny and accountability, and ultimately better performance. In fact, the city's voters should insist on it.

The BET has a lot to improve. Its defenders say it's positioned to play the role of taxpayer watchdog, restraining the spending appetites of the City Council and the Park Board. Maybe so, but evidence suggests that the BET does little barking about taxes, and very rarely bites. Not once in this decade has the BET authorized a tax ceiling lower than the mayor and council sought.

It's likely no coincidence that the latest annual ranking of city property taxes by the Citizens League showed that Minneapolis has the highest property tax burden among 117 metro-area communities. At 0.59 percent, its effective tax rate is almost double that of St. Paul.

High taxes are putting Minneapolis at risk of losing its middle class -- and that risk will intensify if the BET does not more effectively stand up for taxpayers' interests.

The BET also needs to do a better job overseeing internal auditing. A report issued last week said that with only one internal auditor on its staff, Minneapolis is at serious risk of fraud. By comparison, Hennepin County, with a budget only slightly larger than the city's, employs 11 auditors to review its departments' spending practices. The BET cannot allow this situation to continue.

Change should begin immediately, with practices that make the BET's work more visible. Its meetings have not been televised, and its agendas and briefing materials are not consistently available to citizens in advance. They should be. The budgets the BET reviews should be presented in formats easy for citizens to find and follow.

Having decided to preserve the BET, the voters aren't finished. Since the demise of the Minneapolis Library Board almost two years ago, the BET has been a six-member body. That situation risks 3-3 tie votes that would stop decisionmaking in its tracks. A seventh member should be added to the board.

City voters in 2010 should be presented with a charter amendment adding a third at-large, elected member to the board. Those who voted Tuesday to preserve the current division of powers at City Hall owe their city a vote next year creating a third at-large BET seat. It would give this unusual governing structure a better chance to function well.

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