Issue Position: Taxes

Issue Position

Minnesota's taxes can be summed up in a very simple manner that everyone can understanding without having to read the tax code; they are too high. The highest bracket in the income tax rate ranks among the 5 highest in the nation out of all other states. The state's property tax ranks among the top 15. We see here in Moorhead what these policies have done. They handicap families and discourage home ownership. Families have less money to work with and a result have a hard time providing for their families and many resort to taking second jobs, third jobs in some extreme cases. People leave Moorhead for Fargo because of its tax practices. The highest income tax bracket in North Dakota is 3.22%. Minnesota has willingly put itself at a disadvantage with its neighbors and I cannot stand by as the state takes money that could be put to better use by the people that money truly belongs to. For Moorhead to grow and compete with its neighbor across the river we must lower our income tax rates

Lowering the income tax for all brackets is a must in order to provide families with a more secure financial future. When elected I will make sure we leave more money in the pockets of every citizen of Moorhead and Minnesota so they may use it to benefit themselves in a more direct manner than the state could ever dream of. With a lower rate people will be far more incentivized to remain in Moorhead and with more money available to them, more will be spent and injected into Moorhead's economy.

The property tax is another beast we must tame. Every individual will lose, on average, $1550 per year to property taxes, that's $129 every month. To some, that is a substantial amount of income that may need to be put towards food, clothing and school supplies but can't because the state government has put in place regulations and other policies that force local governments to raise property taxes in order to make up for lost revenue. Through action at the state level, we can reverse this trend and encourage the reduction of property taxes.
When elected, I will ensure that Moorhead and the families that make it up are prioritized properly and that they have the income to live a higher quality of life than the state presently allows. By leaving more money in the pockets of the people in our community we ensure their continued financial stability and ability to provide for themselves and their families. On top of this, Moorhead and the state will benefit from the increased consumer spending so any ill-effects on Minnesota's tax income will be more than mitigated. We should not sit idle while the state taxes its people to near-death, rather, we should fight to keep what we have earned and should I be elected I will go to St. Paul and do as much on your behalf.

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