Duluth mayor seeks slight tax increase
August 27, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
Duluth Mayor Don Ness was a first-year member of the City Council when he last saw a levy increase as small as the one he proposed Monday. The 1.6 percent increase Ness sees for the 2013 city budget is the lowest proposal since 2000.
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The city needs the increase for new no smoking signs along the lakewalk.
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My comment was attempted humor just in case you’re wondering.
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The city increased property taxes by 2.6million to keep library hours, park and rec. The city taxed street lights, only was supposed to be $3/month now $5.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Good point Sid, here’s the language from the Parks Fund Initiative that passed:
Yes, I support the establishment of a park fund at a funding level of $2.6 million or an overall 3.2% property tax increase.
Typical government doomsday message with the ingenuous bait & switch. When the initiative passed the new money was spent on parks but the old money that went into the parks kitty no longer did. It stayed in the city’s general fund for budget-balancing. Take away one pot of money and replace it with another is called backfilling
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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“The council failed to muster enough votes to transfer money from the street improvement trust fund to pay for $2.9 million in debt for past street repairs.”
That sounds like how my kids rationalize things. When they borrow money from me, they don’t want to pay it back, in case they can figure out how to spend it on something else.
If the money is already spent/owed, it should be paid.
How do you get away with ‘saving’ money and owing it at the same time?
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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As long as our city gov worries and wastes time on outdoor smoking and and other such idiotic issues instead of job creation, it will only get worse.
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How about we cut programs and in turn cut taxes! The taxes are already too high here, I see no problem moving to Superior or to the country if I stay in the twin ports after college. Somehow I doubt that I will stay in the area I was born in however because this type government in your way logic chases away any decent career prospects up here anyways!
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Sure, move to Wisconsin where the property taxes are almost twice what they are here.
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Which levels out between income taxes. Besides it doesn’t matter, the upper Midwest is full of people with muddled ideals, so I will be looking at a free state like New Hampshire if the job prospects are there. Minnesota has a sales tax rate that is the sixth in the country at 6.875%. Saint Louis county is even higher than the state average at nearly 7.875%. There is a reason that this city is crumbling away and impoverished and the median income is tens of thousands below the Twin Cites. Minnesota has also consistently been ranked one of the worst states to own your own business. It is either time for a change, or continue having a false sense of reality.
Saumz-
I am referring to REAL careers that do not expand the size of government bureaucracy! You know, industry, technology, engineering, modern society! Something that would drive the average income substantially up here if it was not such a hostile place to have a company or business. Instead we invite dregs of society from Detroit and Chicago to move to Duluth and sell dope to people and collect government handouts!
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New Hampshire? lol good luck with that…and Minnesota is looked upon favorably by people who are looking to start a new business because ‘Sota students continually rank in the top for act/sat scores hence they have a more educated workforce to choose from…not to mention the many cultural amenities offered in the state that attracts big companies whose potential employees are highly educated and want all the things that make an area a great place to live and raise a family in (i.e. museums, sports teams, operas, etc.) Also our medical care is top notch another gift that minnesota has to offer for businesses. Yeah the business climate isnt always just about who will make me pay less taxes like you assume.
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So we are seeing companies climb all over each other in a mad scramble to grab space in Duluth and set up business here? Yup, the business climate is unmatched and Duluth is running out of space for all the newcomer businesses. All these new businesses are driving up the local wage rates and eveybody who wants a job can find a “family supporting” job here in Duluth, right? Hey Levi, time to come out of your dream world, wake up and actually see reality. Duluths’ economy is definitely anti-business and is reinforced and further crippled by usuerous fees, taxes, regulations imposed by the state.
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Well, New Hampshire is beautiful, has no sales tax, no income tax, and most importantly they are free and enjoy a 5.1% unemployment rate. Hmm the people are prosperous and happy, I wonder why? It is because of Conservative-Libertarian ideals you dummy!
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read the post ulysses lol i said MINNESOTA not Duluth buddy and i guarantee i could cherrypick a city in all the best states where businesses wont touch lol including your beloved new hampshire….even in a booming economy like north dakota you have things like housing shortages and no schools so you cant exactly move there to live (maybe just for work but i digress)
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ulyssess and john where are you residing in right now? lol if its so bad here no one is making you stay yet you still choose to…your actions speak louder than words my friends.
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Levi: I am semi-retired and just marking time until my wife can retire, at which point we are going to move to a more tax-friendly and senior friendly region, leaving this god forsaken sh*thole of a welfare mecca city to the brainless libs.
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ulysses your actions speak louder than words still lol you lived here and worked here your whole life yes i agree there are alot of states that are better to RETIRE in….not to live in while working quite as much is the point of my arguement which you fail to see because liberals are blinding you in this state apparently.
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The city has increased the ammount you pay in taxes every year both by raising the declared taxable value of properties and by playing a shell game with how it manages the taxes it collects. There is never a reason to raise taxes, unless you are planning on expanding government. People who belive otherwise are mistaken. I personally think that the city of Duluth not only has its fingers in too much already but does a very poor job of managing a city. Tell your represenatives that the city should focus on critical services like roads, police, and fire! Just how much money does the city spend on half baked social reform like no smoking out doors, harassing LEGAL business owners because they don’t agree with their products, and other such silliness! Oh Donnie boy you were elected Mayor not Mom, please try and remember that!
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The city gets its piece of the pie. It is disappointing that when the pie gets smaller, the city demands a bigger piece. In theory, the goal is to promote the growth of the city, and then in turn the city’s coffers are rewarded. This proposal is not in that spirit.
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The same goes for Fire and Police service as well. It costs more in a city like ours.
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It may not be on purpose, but the city has definitely been pissing money away.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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1.6% so the city doesn’t go into the red? Fine with me. You can only cut so much (and things have been cut every year) before quality of life starts to go down. I like my snow polowed in the winter and like the fact I have a fire hall and a police substation right in the newighborhood. If people want to live in places with low taxes and almost no government services, Mississippi and Alabama are waiting for you but I don’t see a mass exodus to any of these places. New Hampshire may be free but they have also grabbed every federal dollar they could get their hands on to get to that point, and if you move there you will be in the good company of the Cravaack’s!
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How about cutting non-core actvity funding? Sister Cities is a waste as is throwing money down the rat hole of the train to nowhere. Cut subsidies to special interest groups, let them do their own fundraising. Pet projects need to go away as long as this city is in dire financial straits. If the politicians want more tax money perhaps they should be working to INCREASE THE TAX BASE (novel idea in this dumbocrat controlled city) instead of taking the lazy way out and milking each remaining taxpayer more and more.
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Ah, no. No more. No more. No more. Our pockets have already been picked by all the increases in utilities, and they are going up some more. No.
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How many slight increases are in an astronomical increase? I think we’ve long since passed it.
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when Ness took office, there was over $80 million in the community investment fund…now it’s down to almost $20 million??? A LOT of this money was spent on band aid fixes of the streets, so Ness can put on his campaign lit that he improved 100 miles of streets in 4 years. The overlaying of streets only last about 3-5 years before the streets start cracking apart…take a look of some of the first streets done during his 1st and 2nd year in office and you see the cracks already… Park Point, 54 Ave. E., 10th Ave. E., etc….The city used to have a triple A rating for borrowing based on the $80 million that used to be in the fund…wonder what kind of interest rates for capital improvements the city is getting now? Like it was also already stated, the tax increase for the parks, didn’t go to the parks…it went to pay for 10 people who work in the defunct parks and recreation department (did you notice any additional rec centers open this summer?), so that their pay could go to the libraries. 10 people that basically deal with renting pavillions and opening up the Heritage for skating 2 hours/week… a million dollars and $90,000 in furniture for them to sit on???? How much more idiotic can it get under the Ness administration?????
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This is proof positive, beyond any shadow of a doubt, why the dumb-o-crats who control this region WANT a dumbed down populace. This is why they are activly seeking to import ignorance from metro areas too. The lower the overall intellegence of the voters the easier it is to play the shell game and milk taxes from the people. Tell the people that a tax increase will bring about increased park maintenance, rec centers and better programs for the kids and ignorant voters buy into the lie. Facts prove that the money gotten from the parks levy only replaced money that used to come from the general fund so that general fund money could be pi**ed away on other pet projects, not increasing any parks ammenities or services. Ignorant voters like we now have in Duluth are easily led and misled to believe any lies the politicians wish to put forth. A dumbed down populace is the Dumb-o-crats best tool.
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