Letter: Shift in state tax policy is needed

The Minnesota Legislature cannot continue its present course on taxation policy. Whether or not the apparent governor-elect Mark Dayton survives a vote recount, the new GOP majorities in the Minnesota Legislature still will have to deal with huge budget deficits. Given the GOP’s sole focus on spending cuts and total opposition to any tax increases, its scorched-earth spending cut policies will cause irreparable damage to vital state services Minnesota residents have come to expect and demand.

If Minnesota voters have not already discovered this, there is also the reverberating negative effect that cuts in state aid have on municipalities or local governments. Already local governments are faced with the prospect of raising taxes merely to keep functioning. The end result will be increases in taxes, whether federal, state or local — or a combination of all three. The task before the new Minnesota State Legislature is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, if taxes are not raised. In my view, tax increases have become an imperative — it’s only a question of who will pay for those increases.

I would add that an increase in sales taxes is not the answer; it is one of the most regressive taxes, affecting primarily those in the lower to mid-range income brackets the most. It’s income taxes that must be raised (taxation according to ability to pay).

Tags: opinion, letters, minnesota, politics, taxes