[Mpls] Republican Views of Minneapolis

[Victoria Heller]

Brauer:  The city retains a triple-A rating, the highest investment grade.
The bond houses don't give that to bankrupt cities.

Heller:  Not so fast.  S & P rated the Enron bonds AAA until six weeks prior
to its bankruptcy.  The rating agencies will say anything for a large enough
fee.  Also, the City is claiming $27 billion of "market value" for the
purpose of calculating debt capacity.  What a joke!  If Standard & Poors
knew that Minneapolis only collects $250 million in property taxes, and
one-third of that goes into TIF districts, the Agency would drop the rating
in a New York minute.

Brauer:  City residents and businesses pay more to the state than they get
back in spending.

Heller:  You keep saying this, but it's not true.  Don't forget that
Governor Pawlenty sent $80 million to Minneapolis last year to "help" with
the Convention Center debt.  That was over and above the nearly $70 million
in Local Government Aid.  State income taxes collected have NOTHING to do
with Minneapolis.  Retail sales have been dropping in Minneapolis according
to the Strib, thus less sales tax receipts.

Minneapolis spends $1.2 billion annually.  Despite all of the so-called
budget "cuts", Minneapolis spending has NOT GONE DOWN.  How do you explain
this?

I suggest you look into the Truth in Taxation budget that was distributed by
the City last month.  Let's find out where more than $200 million of
unidentified spending is going.

Vicky Heller
North Oaks and Cedar-Riverside