Letter: Proposal would ease property tax burdens

Talk about it

Say yes to the proposed City of Worthington half-percent sales tax. The Minnesota Legislature several years ago passed legislation that allowed the City of Worthington to enact a time-restricted (non-permanent) half-percent add on to the existing sales tax. The legislative action identified two specific projects viewed necessary to the social and economic development of Worthington — the auditorium renovation and expansion and the construction of a center for events and community activities.

With voter approval these two projects will be under way within a year. Similar projects all over the state have been approved and completed without the use of funds from property tax increases.

The two Worthington projects over the last several years have been given a high priority by the citizens and would likely move forward either through the sales tax change or the use of funds through property tax revenues. The strength of the sales tax process is that individuals who live outside of the City of Worthington would pay approximately 40 percent of the cost. Without the sales tax, all households within the City will pay 100 percent of cost of the projects either directly through property tax or indirectly through rental payments.

Say yes to the one-half percent sales tax. Say yes to share the cost of the projects across all who will use the fruits of our labor.

Tags: opinion, worthington, half-cent, salestax, communitycenter, eventscenter, memorialauditorium