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It was suggested in a recent letter to the editor (Dec. 18) that taxes are already too high because we have massive surpluses. I would suggest the problem isn't that we are paying too much in taxes, resulting in our government having to much money. The problem is not spending more of our tax money on failing infrastructure.

If you owned a home and realized you had a large amount of extra money, would you think the best thing to do was to give the extra money to charity if your roof was over 40 years old and leaking, water pipes were over 100 years old and bursting, sewer pipes were clogged, toilets were backing up into the basement, wiring was old and out of date and your foundation was crumbling?

Our infrastructure is out of date. Most things we take for granted are old and failing and need to be fixed, replaced or updated. Put the surplus where it will do the most good and provide jobs and boost our economy. Our forefathers built this country with their hard-earned money, and it is our responsibility to maintain and improve it. It won't fix itself.

Dale Trippler, Blaine

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There was a time when some of the tax dollars collected by the state went back to municipalities and townships in the form of local government aid. Then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty made significant cuts to that, and ever since then local governments have been struggling to make ends meet.

It is time to restore local government aid in order to allow cities and townships to flourish as they did before. A budget surplus as big as what we have at the state level while cities raise their taxes to pay for basic services is not a sign that the state is overtaxing us, but by failing to spend some of that money to support municipal services, the state is pocketing our cash without delivering the goods.

It is my hope that with a fully Democratic government in St. Paul, we can reverse Pawlenty's disastrous policy.

Rich Furman, St. Paul

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For several years now and especially after the pandemic started in 2020, residents who have impairments and their advocates have been longing for the Legislature to approve more money for necessary services that impact so many people. Some areas that should receive dollars are personal care assistant programs, day habilitation centers, Metro Mobility, staffing for group homes, accessible living and additional recreational possibilities for children and adults with various disabilities. I am sure there are a lot more categories that could and should be considered, and that several disability groups will be very vocal once the new session starts.

Not to be overlooked is the $10 million request from Minneapolis to improve accessibility and add financial backing to the city's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan. This much-needed ask will be very beneficial to the community as it will go toward upgrading the remaining outdated curb cuts, adding accessible street crossing signals, making sure every public building is ADA-compliant and other important aspects. I hope, for all residents with disabilities, that this request gets approved in order for the city to continue making ADA improvements and being inclusive to all.

There is much to do in next year's Legislative session, but with a new government structure now in place, there will be more freedom to decide who gets a piece of the surplus, which should be a welcome development for the disability community. The time has come to put together a comprehensive package that will assist and improve the lives of Minnesotans with disabilities and the organizations that advocate for them! We cannot — and should not have to — wait any longer!

Michael Sack, Minneapolis

The writer is a disability activist.

Many landlords will retaliate against the legislation in order to protect their profits. For example, developers may transform their apartments into condominiums to avoid renting out their property altogether. Dennis Block, an attorney, told the Los Angeles Times in 2019 that landlords in California were using methods such as dramatic rent increases and "just-cause" evictions in order to protect their property value. When faced with new rent control policies, they acted before the legislation took effect, and left their tenants upset and confused. This is a situation where rent control inadvertently caused more problems for renters, despite seemingly good intentions from lawmakers.

It could be argued that the greed of the landlords was the real reason for the random evictions and rent hikes, and that the policy did not require them to act as such, and that would technically be correct. However, it still goes to show that rent control will not work unless additional legislation is put in place to protect tenants.

Nicholas Ebert, St. Peter, Minn.

Just say no, no, no to the California company's plan to open a major bottling plant in the south metro ("Thirsty firm spurs worry over aquifer," Dec. 15). In addition to the risk of depleting the water supply to many southern Minnesota residents, the bottled-water industry creates greenhouse-gas emissions (we are living in a climate crisis) and contributes to huge plastic waste (we are living in a plastic waste crisis). Local politicians and corporate greed are using the "jobs" and "development" excuse to validate this project, without regard to future generations. Shipping our Minnesota water across the country makes no sense.

Kate Winsor, St. Paul

What do lowered water tables, dry wells and tons of plastic waste filling landfills all have in common? The proposed Elko New Market-Niagara Bottling plan to take millions of gallons of water from the aquifer that provides drinking water to southern Minnesota.

This idea is much, much too important to be decided on a local basis. The state of Minnesota has a duty to protect its groundwater from frivolous and wasteful uses. The Legislature should step in and put a stop to out-of-state interests intent on taking and wasting such an important natural resource. The possibility of 59 jobs pales in comparison with the waste to be generated by bottling millions of gallons of water into plastic bottles for a nonessential and wasteful need.