Posts by Jeff Van Wychen
Minnesota Business Tax Rate Equals U.S. Average
Business groups—including the Minnesota Business Partnership and Minnesota Chamber of Commerce—actively cultivate the notion that business taxes in the Gopher State are high relative to the rest of the nation. However, total state and local business taxes as a share of business activity in Minnesota are typical of other states and equal to the national…
Read MoreGas Tax Buys One-Third Less Today Than in 2000
The single largest source of funding for Minnesota’s transportation system comes from the state gas tax. However, the purchasing power of that tax has dropped by over one-third over the course of the century, leaving funding for state roads and bridges in a precarious fiscal situation. While the majority of states have increased their gas…
Read MoreState Aids: The Shrinking Slice of the City Revenue Pie
City property taxes have increased significantly in recent decades. Even after adjusting for inflation and population growth, the property taxes collected by Minnesota cities have increased by 48% from 1990 to 2018. However, real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) per capita city revenues are down over the same period. The rapid growth in property taxes and the decline…
Read MoreGovernment Growth in Context
Shocking claims of growth in government abound. However, viewed in context of the economic, demographic, and societal changes that have occurred over the last fifty years, the growth in government is far less astounding than the sound-bite statistics indicate. For example, the charge of 5,000% growth in state government is based on the change in…
Read MoreImpact of Legislative Decisions on School Funding
State aid to Minnesota school districts—properly adjusted for inflation—has fluctuated significantly over the last fifteen years, but the overall trend has been downward, as documented in a recent North Star report. Of course, long-term trends are not exclusively the result of changes enacted by state policymakers.* Using information compiled during the 2017 special legislative session,…
Read MoreMisplaced Faith in Tax Cuts
Whatever the problem, a tax cut will fix it. And under no circumstances ever increase taxes. So goes the conventional conservative mantra. New research from two Oklahoma State University economists (Rickman and Wang, 2018) finds that reality is far more nuanced than this rigid perspective suggests. Tax cuts can promote economic growth—or they can harm…
Read MoreMinnesota & Wisconsin: Similar Unemployment Rates, Different Outcomes
Good news is worth repeating. Last fall, North Star published an analysis showing that while Minnesota and Wisconsin had similarly low unemployment rates, the two states reached this point via very different paths. Minnesota reached its low unemployment rate with above average job and labor force growth, while Wisconsin had below average job and labor…
Read MoreThe School Aid Backslide: Digging into District-by-District Details
North Star’s new report, Minnesota Backslide: School Aid Cuts on the Horizon, documents the decline in real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) per pupil* state operating aid to Minnesota school districts since fiscal year (FY) 2003 and the corresponding increase in school property taxes. While the general impact of the aid loss is similar in most parts of…
Read MoreBack to the Future: Declining School Aid in Minnesota
Despite increases in recent years, real per pupil state operating aid to Minnesota school districts has declined overall since fiscal year (FY) 2003. This decline in state aid translated into significant property tax hikes and—in many instances—reduced funding for public education. To compound matters, projections based on current state law indicate a significant decline in…
Read MoreWisconsin Grows Poorer, More Unequal Relative to Minnesota
Minnesota’s median income grew faster than the national average over the past decade, as noted in part 1 of this series. And while Minnesota income inequality has increased, it has increased less rapidly than the national average. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, median income growth fell short of the U.S. growth rate and income inequality increased at…
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