Minnesota property taxes: Marquart wants local sales taxes to ease homeowners’ burden

The chairman of the Minnesota House property tax panel announced a proposal this morning that he said would lessen the bite local governments will feel from expected state cuts.

Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, is expecting state cuts to county program aid (CPA) to help solve a projected $4.6 billion state budget deficit in 2010-2011.

Marquart is hoping to stave off local property tax levy increases by allowing counties to impose a local sales tax increase of one half of 1 percent. The new money that counties bring in from the sales tax would counterbalance the amount of CPA cuts.