The rooftop lawn bowling green at Brit's Pub in downtown Minneapolis gets the same tax break as suburban farmland. So does the golf course at Minikahda Club, as does a north Minneapolis florist and a greenhouse on the city's south side.
Under the state's open space property tax law, land devoted exclusively to lawn bowling, croquet, polo, golf and shooting ranges is taxed on its current use, rather than its potential development value.
That is the same tax break that the Legislature has granted farmers in the path of encroaching suburban development for 40 years. The idea was to protect farmers and their land from the threat of nearby development, which could cause skyrocketing property taxes and force farmers from their land. The farm version is called the Green Acres law.
So how does a small lawn bowling green in the heart of downtown look the same as a sprawling cornfield in the eyes of the Tax Man? The answer is a bit of creative lobbying at the State Capitol.
The Brit's tax break dates back to the 1990s. The business hired a lobbyist who got the ear of then-House Speaker Dee Long, whose district included the pub, and got the tiny provision inserted in a tax bill.
The sponsor of that measure, then-Rep. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, said the provision was novel at the time.
"It was pretty unusual," said Rest, now a state senator.
She said she added the tax break at Long's request.