state + local

Who ever said politics was a dirty business?

"Stadium backers argued at a Capitol news conference Thursday that they are merely reclaiming state-authorized taxes for other purposes, so legally they're not city funds subject to the referendum requirement."----then maybe they should start collecting the taxes from the entire state, not just from Minneapolis.

Thanks Mayor for finding a legal out and not supporting the will of YOUR electorate and the "spirit" of the charter (law). And you comment that we can vote you out of office? You think YOU are really worth 600 plus million dollars of a mistake (600 plus from Ch 9 news tonight)when it is too late and you have moved on to be a czar in the Obama administration? I saw you at a restaurant recently and I refused to return your "hi". I regrettably voted for you.

Rybak wants to avoid a referendum, saying people can vote him out of office if they don't like his decisions. How about if we sue him and then throw him in jail for not adhering to the referendum laws of Minneapolis?

Lets see, the sales, liquor, lodging and hotel taxes are assessed ONLY in the city of Minneapolis. So how is it that they're NOT city taxes? Rybak admits they're city taxes (and subject to the referendum) when he describes "the city's contribution". Of course, if they were NOT the city's contribution, then they'd be a contribution by the state. The State's "contribution" is now $398 million, but if the convention center diversion of funds is called a contribution by the state, then the State will have contributed a total of $548 million. Of course, Dayton initially said the state's contribution would "never exceed" $300 million. The Mpls city council members MUST hang tough and demand the referendum. Call the referendum now, vote it down, get Zygi out of town and say NO once and for all. Alternatively, the legislature, using the logic of Rybak & Dayton, could instead pass a law taxing every person in Julie Rosen's Fairmont district (and nobody else) a confiscatory sum to pay for it all!!!

So the legal counsel and the mayor say that the taxes that are only on Minneapolis businesses are not city taxes because the state collects them. Why does that sound like the taxation without representation that started America, with the King's "you colonies have your (one) representative in parliament"?... And doesn't the State Constitution require that taxes levied by the state be equally applied to all citizens and businesses, or equally applied on users? Can the state legally tax one county and not the others? It has to have that power for their state-tax argument to hold. (If true, that needs an amendment fix if anything does).... I don't think their argument holds water...

Enough with the hysterical posts. The stadium will benefit the city of Mpls in the long run. Downtown Minneapolis is becoming a classy and beautiful place for people to live and play. The jobs created with boost the local economy even more. Get you heads out of the sand people.

"Minnesota Constitution, Article X, Taxation. ...Taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects and shall be levied and collected for public purposes..." No exceptions. A tax solely on Minneapolis businesses by the state is not allowed. A tax on Minneapolis businesses by Minneapolis is allowed. It's a Minneapolis tax or it's an illegal tax that the businesses can sue to recover... Which interestingly enough, is either subject to the referendum or the state is looking at a big refund after the court case... Maybe the mayor should clam up or the state will have to come up with a ton of change - will they add that onto the cost of the stadium?

So you can vote Rybak out if you don't like his decisions. But that doesn't get any monetary relief now does it?

I want to know how moving a business from one place to another is creating jobs? its not creating jobs, its relocating jobs.