44 Percent of Jobs Don’t Meet Basic Needs

The median job wage in Minnesota pays only modestly more than what is needed to meet basic needs for a small family, according the 2017 Minnesota Cost of Living Study prepared by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). There is...

Aid, Tax, and Revenue Trends in Three Cities

In recent decades, steep reductions in state aid to Minnesota cities have resulted in significant increases in real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) per capita city property taxes and reductions in real per capita city revenues. Aggregate city data, however, can conceal...

State Aid Ups & (Mostly) Downs for Cities

Except for a few intermittent spikes, state aid to Minnesota cities has trended downward since 1990. In general, cities have dealt with declining state aid through a combination of property tax increases and budget reductions, although the city response to aid...

Minnesota Businesses Benefit from State & Local Taxes

It is common for businesses to complain about taxes without considering the benefits that they provide. Taxes are not collected and then buried in a hole. They are used to provide education and public safety, protect property rights, and construct and maintain public...

Business Share of Minnesota Taxes Below US Average

Many believe that Minnesota businesses bear a disproportionate share of the total state and local tax load compared to businesses in other states. This notion is perhaps the result of significant corporate and individual income taxes, the presence of both state and...

Yes, the Minnesota Price of Government Has Declined

A recent article in the Star Tribune has sparked a minor dustup regarding Minnesota’s “Price of Government” (PoG). The article, which focused on the budget legacy of Governor Mark Dayton and featured fiscal comparisons between the Pawlenty and Dayton administrations,...