Smart Fiscal Management Contributed to Surplus

by | Dec 22, 2016

The November 2016 state economic forecast projected an official general fund surplus of $678 million in the current biennium and a $1.4 billion surplus for the upcoming FY 2018-19 biennium, as noted in a recent North Star article. The presence of surpluses is a...

Don’t Base Large Tax Cuts on an Uncertain Forecast

by | Dec 7, 2016

The ink was hardly dry on the November 2016 forecast when conservatives started calling for big tax cuts. After all, there is a $1.4 billion surplus projected for the upcoming FY 2018-19 biennium—what better time to go on a tax cutting spree! However, a closer...

Modest Changes Mean a “Boring” November Forecast

by | Dec 5, 2016

The newly released November forecast shows only modest changes to state revenues and expenditures relative to what was projected at the end of the 2016 legislative session. As a result, the forecasted surpluses—now projected to be $678 million at the end of the...

Going Beyond Per Capita Rankings

by | Nov 30, 2016

State tax rankings are a perennial hot topic in debates over the size of government. Such rankings are most commonly based on taxes per capita; however, rankings based on per capita taxes—or even the broader category of per capita own-source revenue—are inadequate as...

Before Hyperventilating About Tax Rankings…

by | Nov 29, 2016

Based on the most recent government finance data from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2013, combined state and local government taxes per capita in Minnesota are the tenth highest in the nation*—and this does not include tax increases enacted during the 2013 session....

County Expenditures Follow Revenues, Downward

by | Nov 21, 2016

Total Minnesota county expenditures, adjusted for inflation and population growth, have followed county revenues downward over the last ten years. Using data from the 2014 Minnesota County Finances report, published by the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) earlier...