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Minneapolis citizens need more vigilant
representation on the Board of Estimate and Taxation
The Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation
(BET) is the most important Board most Minneapolis residents have never
heard of. BET acts as an independent auditor of the city and as the only
balance to the taxation power of the city council and now it is about to be eliminated.
If the residents of the city of Minneapolis
elect me to the Board of Estimate & Taxation:
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I commit to
holding property tax increases to the rate of inflation. I am the only
BET candidate to commit to limiting
property tax increases. |
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I will work to
hold BET meeting in the neighborhoods, so residents can express their
opinions about the City Council and Mayor's
past 8% annual increases in property taxes, 2010 increase of 11.3%, and
forecasted 2011 property tax increases of 15.7%. |
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I commit to
making the state and BET auditors reports easily available
by creating a new BET website, holding
news conferences, using talk radio, meeting with neighborhood groups,
etc., so residents will know how well or poorly city
government is protecting and using their property taxes dollars. |
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I commit to
increasing the BET audit staff from one auditor to five auditors to
improve internal controls and to protect the city and park board assets from being lost, stolen or embezzled. Hennepin County has 10
auditors while Minneapolis only has one. Ask your city council and mayoral candidates and incumbents about why Minneapolis
only has one auditor and what their position is on this issue. |
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I commit to
having an ROI/pay back period calculated before I vote to approve all
capital expenditure/ bonding requests. Minneapolis has a general fund of
about $300 million and I estimate that there are $1 to 1.5 billion of requests
for funding. This
means a lot of good and very good programs and projects (80%) cannot be
funded. |
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I pledge to
work cooperatively with the mayor, city council and park board to help
make these very difficult decisions. |
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Then, vote for R. Michael Martens for BET
on November 3rd, 2009.
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