First, Minneapolis officials let
rioters burn down and otherwise destroy nearly 100 businesses over the course
of several nights. They told police to stand down. Since then, incredibly, they
have refused to let the owners remove the twisted wreckage of their demolished
businesses without a permit. A permit they would not grant unless the owners
of the now defunct shops, service outlets and eateries prepaid the second half
of their 2020 property
taxes. And contractors cannot provide an estimate of how much it will
cost to rebuild their businesses until the debris is removed. St. Paul, the
Minneapple’s sister city, has waived the tax requirement.
Don Blyly, owner of a bookstore
destroyed in the riots, told the Minneapolis StarTribune: “Minneapolis has not
been particularly friendly toward business for some time.” This is a candidate
for Understatement of the Year, akin to saying that “Joe Biden hasn’t been the
most eloquent person on the face of the Earth lately.” Blyly prepaid $8,847 in
second half taxes a week ago, yet still hasn’t received his permit. Minneapolis
officials lamely cited a state law for their intransigence. However, the law
clearly leaves enforcement up to the counties, and Hennepin County officials
say they made it clear to the city of Minneapolis earlier this summer that they
would not enforce the requirement for any riot-damaged or destroyed properties.
Large stretches of Lake Street and
other areas of the city have been reduced to piles of rubble. Piles of rubble
that are still there, ugly, depressing and filled with hazardous materials.
Basim Sabri is the owner of several properties on or near Lake Street. He told
the StarTribune: “You can’t just allow a bunch of rubble and hazardous material
to sit in the middle of Lake Street. People could get hurt. Where are our City
Council members? What are they doing? Have they seen it?” They are too busy
virtue-signaling and hiring private security for their own protection to tend
to the needs of their city’s business community, Mr. Sabri.
On average, the paper reported, the
owners of properties destroyed or significantly damaged owe $25,000 in taxes
for the second half of 2020. Moreover, most of these owners will also have to
pay $35,000 to $100,000 to have their sites cleared of debris. For many, their
businesses were their only source of income. Already hit hard by the
coronavirus pandemic, the riots have left them unable to comply with the city’s
mandates. Unsurprisingly, owners say the lack of progress has discouraged
reinvestment and is forcing customers—and businesses—to look elsewhere.
To recap, businesses pay property
taxes in large part to secure the services of the police and the fire
department. City officials took the business owners’ first half 2020 taxes but then
refused to let the police and fire department protect their businesses. Talk
about a breach of contract. They didn’t demand any payment or recompense from
the thugs and criminals who looted and plundered the businesses, but did demand
payment of second half taxes from the businesses they let be
destroyed, before they would “let” them clean up the mess the thugs and
city created. Try to wrap your mind around that.
Shortly
after the paper published the article, the city waived
the pre-paid second half 2020 tax requirement. Mayor Jacob Frey announced the
change and said, “I
recently learned about the predicament and took quick action to fix it. For the
sake of our businesses, we need to be removing every last possible barrier to
recovery and reopening.” He recently learned about “the predicament?”
That seems odd, him being the city’s mayor and all. Plus, Andrew Johnson is the
one City Council member who has been sympathetic to the business owners’
plight. Frey issued a statement saying that he consulted with Johnson before
deciding to waive the collection of property taxes as part of the debris
removal process. Johnson has been lobbying city (and county) officials to
address the issue and rectify the situation since June. And this is the
first the feckless Frey had heard about it?
The
wealthy are fleeing New York due to exorbitantly high taxes and a drastic
increase in crime. The state’s clueless governor attempts to woo them back by
offering to buy them a drink. Businesses are leaving New York, Illinois and
California for the same reasons. Now Minneapolis
has joined the list of leftist-run states and cities seemingly determined to erode
their tax bases to appease the frenzied mob.
Better
raise taxes on the remaining businesses, right Mayor Frey?
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