A Roadmap to Property Tax Reforms
by
Pamela Neary & John James
©Published by 1000 Friends of Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota
November, 2000

Both Pamela Neary and John James are eminently qualified to comment on Minnesota's Property Tax System.  In this new study, produced at the request of 1000 Friends of Minnesota and funded by The McKnight Foundation, Neary and James have done just that.  The authors show clearly why the system is broken and how it hurts our communities and weakens our major core cities.  In addition, they suggest a provocative way to change the system and make it work better for all Minnesota.

The study was released to the public on November 30, 2000, and it has drawn a large amount of attention.  Extremely positive editorials, suggesting a careful consideration of the study, have appeared in both the Saint Paul Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

The Executive Summary of the Study is free upon request
or view the executive summary here with
Adobe Acrobat Reader

The Full Study is $5.00

To request the summary, contact us.
To purchase the full report, send $5.

Minnesota's tax system encourages sprawl.  
Our property tax system provides incentives for larger lot, higher priced residential homes.  This is an important barrier to providing affordable housing and creating more compact development patterns.  Two financing tools, tax increment financing and tax base sharing, have attempted to address sprawl, but are insufficient to slow its effects.  

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