MN Governor Tim Walz has released his 2-year budget proposal totaling $49.4 billion dollars for the next biennium, roughly a $2 billion dollar increase from the current biennium which ends June 30th.
Proposed are new gas tax revenues, increased revenues through conforming to the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), and maintaining the healthcare provider tax, which is set to expire at the end of this fiscal year.
Among notable items in the Governor’s budget:
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- In 2017, then-Governor Dayton signed into law property tax relief for all Minnesota businesses by freezing the automatic tax inflator on business property taxes. Governor Walz has proposed reinstating this inflator, and AgriGrowth opposes this proposal. This commercial-industrial tax is a tax on top of the corporate tax rate currently paid by Minnesota businesses, which is the 4th highest in the country.
- Increasing the state gas tax from 28.6 cents/gallon to 48.6 cents/gallon. This tax would also be indexed to inflation, meaning it would increase annually.
- Broadband Funding – $70M dollars in funding for rural broadband.
- Increasing water permitting fees paid for by feedlots, industrial wastewater, and municipal wastewater programs. The increase would be delayed for feedlots until 2022-2023 to reflect the tough financial environment these fee payers already face.
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