ST. PAUL – While numerous proposals are being fast-tracked by the House majority this session – including several that are highly controversial – one topic that has not yet been addressed is the allocation of Minnesota’s nearly $18 billion budget surplus.
“You might think with this mammoth surplus that talk of any tax or fee increase would automatically be removed from discussion,” said State Representative Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont). “But that is not the case, as Governor Walz unveiled his budget priorities and they include nearly $5 billion in tax increases, including a $700 million increase on motor vehicle tabs.”
Olson, who is a member of the Minnesota House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee, learned this week that as part of the Walz plan, a new car's registration cost would be determined based on 160% of the manufacturer's suggested retail price instead of 100%. That means if you bought a $40,000 vehicle, you’d pay be taxed at $64,000 value. This would result in roughly $308 more in tab fees in year one. If you buy a used car that was originally a $40,000 vehicle, you would pay $51 more per year.
In the meantime, there have been no discussions on the popular Social Security tax relief bill, which would eliminate state taxation of Social Security benefits for ALL of Minnesota’s senior citizens.
“During the campaign season, most Democrat candidates joined Republican candidates in saying they supported Social Security tax relief, but now that there is one party rule in the State of Minnesota we are no longer hearing anything about this very important topic,” Olson said. “This is a shame, because no senior citizen deserves to have their Social Security benefits taxed, and no Minnesotan deserves to have their taxes raised when their State has over-collected nearly $18 billion from them.”