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Some politicians think it’s their money.
Guess what?
It’s yours!mike-1

Mike Myser
wants you to keep it and that’s
why he’s running for Mayor

Time for Responsive Leadership

Mike Myser for Mayor

Paid for by Mike Myser for Mayor

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Facts

Please get the facts …Why You Need To Vote…in my brochure. Click the image below for a full-size PDF (Adobe Reader document) 

myserBrochurePage1

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Clarification

Jerilyn Erickson, Finance Director, asked me to clarify something in my brochure.  I have an asterisk on Total Taxes.  In the explanation, I am attempting to cite the source of the numbers I am showing.  The numbers come from her and are accurate but she would like me to clarify that the City does not condone including adding the Franchise Fee/Tax in those calculations.

Here is why I disagree and believe to do otherwise is a mischaracterization of the facts and misleading to the residents of Prior Lake.

1) I Googled “taxes & definition.”  Here is the definition of taxes that I felt was most clear.  INVESTORWORDS.COM – “A fee charged (“levied”) by a government on a product, income or activity. If tax is levied directly on personal or corporate income, then it is a direct tax.  If tax is levied on the price of a good or service, then it is called an indirect tax.  The purpose of taxation is to finance government expenditure.”

2) The Franchise fee is an indirect tax.  The fee is charged on every utility bill in the city.  In 2008, the Franchise Tax was $536,896 (2008 audited numbers).  The fee or tax was placed on: CenterPoint, MVEC, SPUC, Xcel Energy, and Mediacom.  Mediacom makes up 35% of that tax ($185,669) and the others make up the remaining 65% ($351,227).  These fees are passed on to you through your utility and/or cable bill.  This makes them an indirect tax just like a sales tax.  The City’s own auditors refer to this as a tax in their audited statements.  The City used to characterize this as a tax.  It was moved to another area of the financial report.  Because this tax is not transparent, you also don’t get to deduct it when you file your income tax return.  Isn’t that nice.  Check your own bills to verify this fact and you can decide what you want to call it.

3) Even if I don’t include it (every statement I make is still true):
Total taxes have increased every year since 2005.
Tax per person has increased every year since 2005.
Tax per household has increased every year since 2005.
City Council is proposing yet another tax increase for 2010.

Actual Actual Actual Actual Budget Proposed
General Budget 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Tax Levy w/o Franchise 7,313,669 8,086,236 8,718,777 9,365,437 9,881,555 10,079,186
- increase since 2005 28% 35% 38%
Population 21,395 21,542 22,111 22,917 23,144 23,212
- tax per person 342 375 394 409 427 434
- increase since 2005 20% 25% 27%
Households 7,855 8,051 8,345 8,476 8,560 8,585
- tax per household 931 1,004 1,045 1,105 1,154 1,174
- increase since 2005 19% 24% 26%
3) This gives me the opportunity to bring up another statement that I consider misleading.  City Council, including some politicians running for office, claim that we have the lowest tax rate in Scott County.  While this statement is factually correct, it MAY be misleading.  There is at least one tax that is not included in this calculation. The franchise tax above is not included – and neither Savage nor Shakopee charge this tax.  Cindy Geis, Scott County Auditor/Treasurer, confirmed for me and was willing to go on record stating that the Franchise Tax is not included in their calculations.  Would the statement be correct if that half a million dollars is added to the Prior Lake total?  I don’t know.  But, I can tell you that as your Mayor, I would change the reporting and the communication to reflect all taxes you pay.  I believe in transparency.

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