Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Local elders say they appreciate help with financial questions but they offer state officials a better flesh-and-blood solution.
State attempts to save $3.8 million are not wearing well on some seniors in Southwest Minneapolis. During the last legislative session, lawmakers tried to tamp down on the rising cost of paying for assisted living facilities by delaying the time at which state Medicare programs kick in. The cost-cutting measure makes older adults moving into an assisted living facility receive counseling about cost-saving options in a phone interview, and receive a numerical verification code, even if they are using private money to pay for assisted living or long term care. Now, in the most vulnerable time in a person’s life, seniors say they resent the presumption that their housing fate could be reduced to a checklist and phone call. “I’d rather that …
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The state legislature's actions shifted the burden onto local taxpayers.
As part of the deal ending the state government shutdown, the legislature decided to nearly eliminate a long-standing assistance for local taxpayers, called the market value homestead credit. The impact, as Burnsville Patch Local Editor Patty Busse describes, will hit Minnesota property taxpayers. For Southwest's residents, despite the mayor's pledge to hold property taxes at their current levels, they could still see an increase in their bills this year. Because of esoteric details in the program, high-value homes and businesses will have to pay more under the new scheme.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Patch will live-tweet the event
After weeks of waiting, Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak is slated to present his proposed 2012 budget to the City Council today at noon on the fourth floor of the Grain Exchange Building in downtown. The bulding serving as a backdrop to the Mayor's speech was recently re-opened with city help as an incubator for small, creative businesses. The mayor is nearly a month late delivering his Budget Address, compared to when city mayors typically outline their budget proposals to the public. The Board of Estimation and Taxation will hold a hearing tomorrow afternoon to hear testimony from citizens and vote on the mayor's proposed two percent property tax hike. The mayor laid the blame for his tardines on the state government shutown, but has come …
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
A record 12,549 fair-goers participated in the poll this year.
Of a record 12,549 participants in this year's House of Representatives State Fair Poll, nearly 70 percent said the state constitution should not be amended to define marriage as only a union of one man and one woman. That was just one of the interesting results from the annual poll, which also showed that Minnesotans appear to be basically split on whether voters should be required to show photo ID before voting. The recent state government shutdown was also fresh on the mind, and roughly 69 percent of polltakers said current levels of state funding should remain in effect if the governor and legislators cannot agree on a state budget for an upcoming biennium—an approach that would prevent future shutdowns. Here are the full results from …
Friday, August 19, 2011
10 firefighters are expected to be cut as a result of state budget cuts.
This morning, the Minneapolis City Council will vote on a measure that could result in 10 firefighters losing their jobs in an attempt to prevent further Fire Department layoffs. The move comes as councilmembers and Mayor RT Rybak look to soften the blow of so-called "waterfall" budget cuts that were written into the city's 2011 budget in case the state cut local government aid and other appropriations. The Council's Ways and Means Committee voted on Monday to take $1.75 million from the city contingency fund—used to pay for snowplowing and repairs to tornado damage, for example—to prevent further layoffs. In a Council meeting Thursday morning, Fire Chief Alex Johnson said the cuts would drop the number of firefighters reporting for duty …
Monday, July 25, 2011
SW's legislators don't like GOP idea to prevent future shutdowns
A proposal by Republican legislators to pass legislation or a constitutional amendment to prevent future Minnesota state shutdowns received a very cool reception by two of the Democrats who serve Southwest Minneapolis. Last week, three GOP senators called a press conference to propose legislation in the 2012 session, which would resort to the previous budget if a deadline comes and goes, and there is no agreement on the next biennium budget. “This is very problematic because it short-circuits the legislative process,” said Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL — Minneapolis). “If we had true compromise, we could avoid these shutdowns.” Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL — Minneapolis) said the idea “simply plays into the hands of the Republicans to never resolve …
Friday, July 22, 2011
Met Council no longer plans fare increases, large service cuts.
Southwest Minneapolis bus riders can breathe a little easier. The budget that Gov. Mark Dayton signed Wednesday allows Metro Transit to avoid cutting routes and also avoid an across-the-board fare increase, as previously feared. The Metropolitan Council has canceled all public hearings to consider testimony from community members about the cuts, including one hearing scheduled for Aug. 9 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The council was initially set to lose $109 million in transit money—or 85 percent of the state's general fund contribution to transit for 2012-2013. With a cut that size, Met Council planned to slash or limit 130 of 146 bus routes across the Twin Cities, eliminate most suburban local and crosstown bus routes and increase…
As of Thursday, 11 state parks are fully open, and 15 parks are partially open.
“Welcome back. We missed you.” It was the first thing Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Commissioner Tom Landwehr said before announcing that the opening of Minnesota state parks, forests and facilities is ahead of schedule. Originally scheduled to open at 8 a.m. Friday morning, Landwehr reported that as of 11 a.m. Thursday, 11 state parks are fully open, with an additional 15 parks partially open. (Check out this link for a list of the operational status of all DNR facilities.) While more than 2,700 DNR employees returned to work Thursday morning, Parks and Trails Director Courtland Nelson, explained that the most pressing job is still assessing the condition of the parks. “We’ll be checking water and sewer lines and debriefing …
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Southwest legislators critical of the final product.
Insults were hurled. Accusations were made. Pleas were ignored. But in the end, the people’s business was finished. Gov. Mark Dayton just signed into law all 12 budget bills passed in the middle of the night Wednesday by the Minnesota House and Senate. Dayton’s signatures ended the shutdown of Minnesota government—at 20 days, it was the longest continuous shutdown of any state government in United States history. In the end, Dayton kept his promise that he wouldn’t sign any of the bills until all 12 had passed through both houses of the legislature. At the start of the marathon special session, it seemed as though the process would be over quickly. In its first hour, the Senate passed six of 12 bills while the House passed five. But by 1 a…
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Governor's office cautiously optimistic that shutdown will end by morning.
As of 1 a.m. Wednesday, eight bills were on their way to Gov. Mark Dayton's office to be signed into law. Two additional bills had been passed in the House but not the Senate. Dayton has said he would not sign any bills until all 12 had passed the House and Senate. Between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. Tuesday, the process was moving along smoothly. Within 45 minutes, the Senate passed six bills and the House passed five. Then they recessed. Lawmakers adjourned to discuss some of the most contentious and complex pieces of upcoming legislation. The bills: health and human services, taxes, K-12 education, bonding, pension and state government. When the parties reconvened at 9:30 p.m., the finger-pointing began. “This budget is morally bankrupt…
Susan Totall
3:53 pm on Monday, September 12, 2011
I love Minneapolis! I support Mayor Rybak! But, seriously, another property tax hike? Who can afford to live in the city anymore? This announcement just makes me sad. more ›