Minneapolis' property tax pique is misplaced

Last update: July 10, 2008 - 9:40 PM

After reporter Steve Brandt's lengthy interview with our tax specialists and me, I was surprised and disappointed to read such a blatantly one-sided story in the Star Tribune ("State raises property taxes for 20,000 in Minneapolis," July 9).

While we are first to admit that the system isn't perfect, no methodology is without its flaws. However, the assertion of City Assessor Patrick Todd that our calculations work well only in a static market is nothing more than a red herring. The housing market has never been, nor will it ever be, static. A core function of the Department of Revenue is to apply equity and balance to an ever-changing market environment. Our ability to achieve this in Minneapolis was hampered -- not by the methodology but by the city's failure to respond to repeated requests for timely and specific data.

Mayor R.T. Rybak calls the board order "unprecedented." It is not. The state issues numerous board orders each year (more than 100 during this year alone) that are based on data from Minnesota cities and counties. Cities provide both monthly and neighborhood-specific data to ensure that properties are assessed their equitable share -- no more, no less -- of the property tax levy. Minneapolis provided neither and offered no explanation for its failure to do so. As a result, our assessment was less surgical than it otherwise might have been, but it was based on the information we were given.

Your headline also ignores an important reality. When some properties are improperly assessed, all properties in the city are impacted. In other words, if the tax burden on 20,000 residents is raised, the tax burden is automatically lowered on many, many more. The board order issued by the Department of Revenue will not change the total amount of property taxes collected in Minneapolis, but rather will ensure that all property taxpayers pay their equitable share.

Finally, Minneapolis did indeed appeal our initial board order. In a meeting last month, Todd seemed less interested in discussing our concerns than in issuing an outright warning that an unflattering story would be written.

WARD EINESS, COMMISSIONER, MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, ST. PAUL

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