…are: “Property Taxes Payable – 1st Half” and “Property Taxes Payable – 2nd Half”.

And yesterday was the one of those two least favorite days of the year. I don’t escrow, so twice a year I see – and feel the pain – of Gov. T-Bag’s “stewardship” of the great state of Minnesota. In 2001, I paid $2,316 in property taxes; as a result of the Property Tax Reform Bill enacted in 2001, and signed by then-Gov. Jesse Ventura, I paid $1,845. Under now-Gov. T-Bag, I paid $3,451 in property taxes this year.

The State House Research Department prepared an eleven page slide show in January of 2007 explaining what the 2001 Property Tax Reform Bill was supposed to accomplish; it’s available here.

According to the House Research Department, the goals of that 2001 Reform were:

Realign the state-local fiscal relationship:

• • Increase state’s role in funding state priorities (education, courts, transit)

• • Decrease state’s role in financing municipal services to give residents more direct responsibility for municipal service decisions

The bottom line, is Gov T-Bag accomplished the latter, while ignoring the former. While researching this post, I noted that MN2020.org has a new report out; published just this morning by Jeff Van Wychen. From it:

Since 2002, Minnesota property taxes, in general, and homeowner property taxes, in particular, have increased rapidly. The cause of the statewide growth in property taxes is not growth in local government budgets. These property tax hikes are the result of state policies that require more public costs to be borne by property taxpayers and a larger share of total property taxes to be borne by homeowners.

Yep – since 2002, my property taxes have increased rapidly; from $1,845 in 2002 to $3,451 in 2009 – dam near doubling during the reign of T-Bag The Terrible (a/k/a, “Worst. Governor. EVER.”).

Go to MN2020.org to find out why.

(crossposted and comments welcomed at MnProgressiveProject)