By Rep. Paul Anderson
With days getting shorter again, and high school football on the schedule for this week, fall is just around the corner. The start of the new school year upon us and back-to-school shopping is in high gear for those families getting their kids ready for the new term. Because these expenses can add up to significant dollars, Minnesota offers its residents the opportunity to soften the financial impact somewhat. Parents are encouraged to save their receipts and utilize the tax benefit to help defray the cost.
Our state offers both a credit and a subtraction for education expenses, and both can reduce the amount of taxes that parents pay. Those expenses must be for children attending kindergarten through 12th grade at a public, private, or home school. Some examples of items that qualify for the tax savings are writing utensils, text books, musical instrument rentals, tutoring, and computer hardware/education software. Not all things related to school expense qualify; examples of such items that do not include school lunches, uniforms, and back packs.
The tax subtraction is not subject to income limits; however the credit is. Last year, over 37,000 families utilized the education credit for an average saving of $241. In addition, 186,000 families took advantage of the education subtraction. Parents should check the Dept. of Revenue website at www.revenue.state.mn.us for additional information.
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It was recently announced that Minnesota’s minimum wage will increase on Jan. 1. For those working at companies with $500,000 or more in sales the increase goes up 21 cents per hour to $9.86. Workers at companies below that threshold will see a smaller increase, 17 cents, to $8.04. There is also what’s known as a youth wage rate for those under the age of 18, and also a training wage for those under the age of 20. Rates for both of those categories will also be $8.04 per hour. It’s estimated that approximately 8 percent of Minnesota’s work force will be affected by these increases.
One complication of raising the minimum wage is what it does to those making slightly more than this level. The increase at the lower end of the wage scale results in a compression of wages for those whose wages are higher. This can result in the balance between worker experience and job complexity being impacted.
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Rainfall throughout the district has been spotty this summer. Some areas seem to get precipitation on a regular basis, while others remain dry. Crops have matured faster this year, in part, because of greater heat units and also because of dryness. Chopping of corn for silage has begun and will ramp up in coming days. Small grain harvest has pretty well wrapped up, with results being an average or a bit below average yield. Soybean harvest is still several weeks away, with many fields showing signs of stress from a dry and hot period in August.
Although Minnesota’s yields may be down slightly from last year, record crops are being predicted nationally for soybeans with corn not far behind. Prices for nearly all ag commodities are depressed, in part because of trade uncertainty and also because of large carryover supplies and big crops forecast to come in this fall.
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