House DFLers want to restore homestead credit

Posted at 2:35 PM on September 13, 2011 by Tim Pugmire
Filed under: MN Legislature

Two DFL legislators say they want to restore the market value homestead credit that was eliminated during the July special session that ended the state government shutdown.

Gov. Mark Dayton signed a Republican-backed tax bill that ended the credit, which 95 percent of homeowners received, and replaced it with a new program called the homestead market value exclusion. During a State Capitol news conference today, Rep. Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, said the new exclusion will lower the local property tax base and drive up the rate.

"The exclusion attempts to say we really don't want to own what's going on here, which is we're going to take a $538 million commitment to property owners through property tax relief, and we're going to shift it locally," Lenczewski said. "That's all we're doing. That's what the exclusion does."

Lenczewski and Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, plan to introduce their bill to restore the credit during the 2012 session.

Republicans have argued that the changes provided a more stable funding mechanism for cities and counties.

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