Minnesota Re-Illustrated: Correcting Economic Disinformation

Last week, the conservative Tax Foundation and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce released a report entitled, Minnesota Illustrated: A Visual Guide to Taxes & the Economy. Much of the information in the report is presented in such a way so as to give the impression...

Fiscal Disparity Program Reduces Business Tax Disparities

The seven-county metropolitan tax base sharing program has successfully reduced property tax disparities within the metro region, as revealed by analysis presented in the previous article in this series. By taxing a significant portion of the business value in the...

Metro Tax Base Sharing Reduces Disparities

The metropolitan tax base sharing program—more commonly referred to as the fiscal disparity program—was designed to meet various tax policy goals, as noted in part one of this series. The success of the program in meeting some these goals—such as fostering “more...

Metro Tax Base Sharing: Net Contributors, Recipients

From the time we are toddlers, we are told that sharing is good. However, it is often not easy—and it can be complicated. A case in point is the metropolitan tax base sharing program, known more commonly as the fiscal disparity program.* For over four decades, the...

Criticisms of Minnesota's Estate Tax are Inflated

The estate tax plays a positive role in generating revenue and reducing the regressivity of Minnesota’s tax system, as noted in the first part of this series. However, no discussion of the estate tax would be complete without addressing conservative criticisms of the...