Why I’m Running.

My wife and I, and the neighbors who have encouraged me to run for city council, want to be able to afford to live in Minneapolis because we love it.

The central issue of my campaign is property taxes. Everyone has been hit hard by the recent increases. I have looked at the budget and it will be even worse in the years to come. Evidently, the increase of 72% over the last seven years isn’t enough revenue for the current city office holders. Their latest budget, through 2018, calls for at least doubling your current property taxes in the next 9 years and this is without including the city’s enormous pension fund liability in the budget.

Our current Ward 13 council member, indicated that when funding for the pension plan is included, property taxes could even quadruple in the next 9 years.  How can we possibly afford that?

I believe the way to create a financially sound, safe, and low tax city is, once again, to focus city government on basic services.  The city has encroached on areas best left to the private sector. The city does not belong in mortgage banking, private property development, or ‘planning’ the ‘best use’ for private property in the city.

I have already found money in the budget to fix our streets without assessing the home owners and business owners or raising taxes. One of the largest departments of city government is Community Planning and Economic Development. With a cast of thousands, this bloated department is the tool the city’s central planners are using to control every aspect of life in the city through regulations and taxation. By eliminating this unnecessary expansion of government alone, we could go a long way to restoring funding for basic services, lowering taxes across the board, and encouraging the growth of small businesses all over the city which would give citizens real employment where they live.

This is only one of the many ideas I have for saving Minneapolis from further debt and decline. Please feel free to call or e-mail me with your questions and concerns or to learn more about my position on the issues that affect all of us who live in this wonderful city. Even though I am busy working and campaigning, I will respond to every inquiry. And I will continue to do the same if elected.

Vote for me, Kris Broberg, on November 3rd, 2009.

kris@krisbroberg.org

612-423-8848