Conservative Tax Claims Don’t Square With Reality

Minnesota Illustrated, a new report from the conservative Tax Foundation and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, makes some startling claims regarding taxes in Minnesota. Parts one and two of this series examined some of the Tax Foundation and Chamber claims regarding...

Per Capita General Fund Revenue Less Than a Decade Ago

The enactment of significant tax increases during the 2013 legislative session, combined with state budget surpluses, has created the impression that Minnesota general fund revenue has grown considerably. This perception is accurate if we measure state revenues today...

Minnesota Outperforms Regional Migration, Population Trends

A new report from the conservative Tax Foundation and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce—Minnesota Illustrated—generally paints a gloomy picture of Minnesota. The previous article in this series showed that this portrayal was inappropriately bleak in several regards,...

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...

Estate Tax Increases Fairness

The one tax that conservatives seem to hate more than any other is the estate tax. Before the significant estate tax relief enacted in 2014 is even fully phased-in, they want to cut the tax again. However, the estate tax is an effective way to prevent the accumulation...

Fourth Tier Impact is Modest

Ever since its passage during the 2013 legislative session, Minnesota conservatives have been critical of the fourth tier income tax, which increased the state tax rate on income above the fourth tier threshold from 7.85 percent to 9.85 percent. However, as noted in...