St. Paul, MN—Yesterday afternoon, the House Property Tax Division advanced a groundbreaking package of property tax cuts on a strong bipartisan vote of 10-3, lowering costs for homeowners, renters, seniors, and providing significant aid to local governments.
“Our legislation includes one of the largest investments in property tax cuts and renters’ credit in decades, as well as providing ongoing investments in communities across the state,” said Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins), chair of the House Property Tax Division. “The bill will put money back into Minnesotans’ pockets at a time when they need it the most.”
The Division Report includes historic investments in the Minnesota Renter’s Credit, by moving this credit to the income tax forms and streamlining the income calculation. This significant policy will remove many barriers to accessing this credit; allowing more than156,000 new filers to qualify for this program.
The legislation also includes a successful revamp of the Local Government Aid (LGA) formula along with an appropriation to further invest in our communities across the state. Chair Youakim led a wide coalition of stakeholder groups who came together and reformed the LGA formula. The legislation increases local government aid by $68.4 million in the 2024-25 biennium and county program aid by $26 million over the same period.
Chair Youakim’s legislation invests $22 million a year in General Fund money into the Soil and Water Conservation District Aid to assist them in the important work they do across the state. The School Building Bond Agriculture Credit will be raised to 85%, further enabling rural school districts with poor property tax bases to cover the costs of building new schools. The legislation also increases school levy equalization to better ensure all districts can meet their students’ needs.
Additionally, there is a variety of no cost items that provide flexibility to cities and counties to meet the needs of their local communities. “This bill helps Minnesotans as they are recovering from COVID and makes important investments into the future,” explained Rep. Youakim. “There is something here for everyone to like in every corner of our state.”
Video recording of yesterday’s meeting can be found on the House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel.
###