Mayors Tax Reform Advisory Group Hears from House Research and Revenue Staff

The group, created by Gov. Dayton, is charged with examining the LGA program and making recommendations for changes.
(Published Aug 22, 2012)

At its latest meeting on Aug. 10 on Granite Falls, the Mayors Tax Reform Advisory Group for Local Government Aid (LGA) heard presentations from House Research Department and Department of Revenue (DOR) staff about aid factors and different types of aid formulas.

Pat Dalton of House Research described criteria to use in determining whether specific data should be used in an aid formula. Some of the points she made included that the data must be regularly available, it must be accurate and consistent, and it must be useful in meeting the program’s goals.

The advisory group members discussed whether the LGA program should help cities meet their needs—in other words, help them do what they cannot do on their own—or whether it should help create the kinds of cities that we want to have. Some characterized this distinction as follows: should the program recognize problems or should it aim for goals?

Eric Willette and Nick Greene of DOR presented a wide range of data focused on measuring capacity and need and also described different types of aid formulas, including a pure per-capita model and a dedicated revenue source model.

The Mayors Tax Reform Advisory Group for LGA has been charged by Gov. Dayton to examine the LGA program and make recommendations for changes. The governor will consider those recommendations as he crafts his budget for the next biennium.

Learn more about the Mayors Tax Reform Advisory Group and access meeting materials

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