MSA 297A.99 states that "Imposition of a local sales tax is subject to approval by voters of the political subdivision at a general election."
Hennepin County commissioners want to impose a local sales tax without voter approval. The legislature will either have to change the law to read "local units of government may impose a local sales tax without a referendum" or pass a special law denying Hennepin County residents the right to vote on a local sales tax. In my opinion, a special law that strips only Hennepin County residents of their right to vote is a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the US constitution. If a majority of MN House and Senate members want the Twins deal to get done badly enough, let them use state funds to pay for it. Too bad that the Governor says he is against that sort of thing (raising taxes). And legislators may be unwilling to pay 100% of the public subsidy for a new Twins Stadium because of all the money they are cutting from things that benefit poor people. (Makes many of them less re-electable). -Doug Mann, King Field Candidate for 8th Ward City Council www.educationright.com Dann Dobson Mon, 09 May 2005 16:50:28 -0700 What Jim writes is technically correct, but he, like Lori Sturdevant of the Strib, the Strib Editorial Board and the Hennepin County Board keep wanting to ignore is Minnesota Law MSA 297A.99 http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/297A/99.html which clearly states: "Subd. 3. Requirements for adoption, use, termination. (a) Imposition of a local sales tax is subject to approval by voters of the political subdivision at a general election." The legislature, in their wisdom, put this law in place to protect taxpayers from crazy schemes, such as the Hennepin County Board has proposed for the Twins Stadium and the insane proposal of the Anoka County Board to raise the sales tax up in their county by .75% to pay for a new Vikings stadium. H.F. No. 2295 http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H2295.0&session=ls84 Dann Dobson Director - No Stadium Tax Coalition 651-227-4376 REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
