Entenza visits Worthington, discusses Minnesota 2020 report

• Entenza discusses local government cuts

Minnesota 2020’s Jeff Van Wychen (clockwise from lower left), Matt Entenza and Nora Ferrell visit with City of Worthington Finance Director Brian Kolander and city aldermen Mike Woll and Lyle Ten Haken — discussing cuts in local government aid and their effects — during a press conference Thursday afternoon in the conference room at Worthington Municipal Airport. (Brian Korthals/Daily Globe)

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Ongoing state cuts to local government aid (LGA) hurt the quality of life in rural Minnesota cities, according to more than 90 percent of mayors surveyed for a report released by Minnesota 2020, a nonpartisan, progressive think tank.

Minnesota 2020 board chair Matt Entenza stopped in Worthington Thursday afternoon to talk to city council members about the report, “Bleeding Communities Dry: How LGA Cuts are Hurting Rural Minnesota.”

The report, authored by Minnesota 2020 Fellow Jeff Van Wychen, found that state aid to Minnesota cities declined 47 percent between 2002 and 2008.

In partnership with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and Macalester College, Minnesota 2020 surveyed 43 Greater Minnesota mayors about critical issues facing Minnesota cities and the ongoing cuts to LGA. The responses do not include the impact of the $66 million cut to local aid dollars that were announced in December 2008 — those cuts occurred after the survey was conducted.

“Our bottom line is that the budget is being balanced on the backs of the rural cities,” Entenza said. “Mayors all over the state are very concerned.”

Although cuts must be made, Entenza added, the rural cities are being treated unfairly, which could mean they wind up unable to remain competitive with other cities.

When asked what where cuts would be made without full LGA funding, 72 percent of the mayors surveyed said parks, recreation and libraries would be at the top of the list. More than 48 percent would make cuts to law enforcement, fire departments and public safety.

“Some state leaders — most notably Governor Pawlenty — chide local governments for a lack of frugality,” the report states, “despite the fact the cities and other local governments have reduced their budgets more than state government.”

“We have tried to be as frugal as possible,” said council member Lyle Ten Haken, adding that the council has acted in good faith, but that cuts are inevitable. “We’re going to have to be looking for opportunities to lay off personnel.”

Law enforcement, fire department and street workers may be the ones to feel the brunt of those lay offs, he said.

“The next year is going to be very difficult,” added council member Mike Woll. “We made it through this year, but the next will be a tough one.”

Van Wychen, who accompanied Entenza, said there wasn’t much in the report data that surprised him.

“I would have been surprised if they had not been concerned about the LGA cuts,” he said.

Entenza, who grew up in Worthington and is expected to make a gubernatorial bid in 2010, said he wanted Pawlenty to make sure rural communities were being treated fairly when cuts were being made.

“We believe all communities have to have some cuts made, but in a proportional way,” he stated. “It needs to be spread out and fair.”

The report, which can be downloaded in its entirety at www.MN2020.org, concludes with this:

“Thanks to unsustainable tax cuts and a collapsing national economy, Minnesota is once again on the precipice of a deep fiscal chasm. If the state responds the same way it did six years ago, we can expect the same results: higher local property taxes and fewer public services and investments. In short, pay more and get less.”

Tags: state and region, news, lga, minnesota2020, mattentenza, matt, entenza, worthington, politics