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| Date: | January 31, 2012 | | Contact Name: | Peter Winiecki | | Contact Phone: | 651-297-8077 | | Contact Email: | peter.winiecki@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| SENATOR JOHN PEDERSON ADVANCES LEGISLATION TO
REDUCE BUSINESS PROPERTY TAXES |
St. Paul – State Senator John Pederson (R-St. Cloud) presented a bill to the Senate Committee on Jobs & Economic Growth today that would roll back and phase out the statewide business property tax over a period of 13 years. After engaging in rigorous debate, the committee members voted to pass the bill on a unanimous voice vote.
“Minnesota taxes employers twice on their business property. One of the messages we have consistently heard throughout the state from business owners is that the cost of doing business keeps going up This is not the way to make Minnesota the most attractive state to do business,” said Senator Pederson, the bill’s chief author. “This bill is a signal to our job creators that they can feel confident to invest and expand.”
Specifically, the bill seeks to reduce the state general levy for commercial-industrial property by $32.1 million per year for taxes paid in 2013 and 2014. It also sets the state general levy for both commercial-industrial and seasonal property at approximately 2013 levels for taxes payable in 2015 and 2016. The bill language also reduces the levy for both types of property by 10 percent each year beginning in 2017 so that it is completely eliminated for taxes payable in 2026 and thereafter.
“We need to make Minnesota the best state to start and grow a business. That begins with making this a less costly place to create jobs,” said Senator Geoff Michel, Chair of the Committee on Jobs and Economic Growth.
After passage by the Committee on Jobs and Economic Growth, the bill was referred to the Senate Taxes Committee for further consideration.
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