Michael Berry

Michael Berry

Michael Berry has drunk homemade moonshine from North Carolina with Robert Earl Keen, met two presidents with the same last name, been cussed at by...Full Bio

 

Minneapolis Orders Riot Destroyed Businesses To Prepay Their Property Taxes

So Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey allowed rioters and looters to destroy businesses throughout the city. Now those businesses that are wanting to rebuild are being told that the must first prepay the rest of their 2020 property tax before the city will issue them a permit to rebuild.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports:

Minneapolis requires owners to prepay the second half of their 2020 property taxes in order to obtain a demolition permit. St. Paul does not...
City officials say their hands are tied, pointing to a state law that prohibits the removal of any structures or standing timber until all of the taxes assessed against the building have been fully paid.
The law, however, leaves enforcement to the county, and Hennepin County officials said they made it clear to the city of Minneapolis this summer that they would not enforce the requirement for any riot-damaged properties.
Local business owners are appalled by the finger-pointing, noting that nearly 100 properties in Minneapolis were destroyed or severely damaged in the riots following the death of George Floyd. The vast majority of those properties are either still standing or have been turned into ugly and often dangerous piles of rubble. Owners say the lack of progress is discouraging reinvestment and sending customers to other parts of the metro.
Cleaning up that mess is expensive. Most property owners must pay $35,000 to $100,000 to clear their sites of debris, with larger tracts — such as strip shopping centers — costing as much as $400,000, according to property owners. That doesn’t include the money those owners must pay to get their permits. On average, the owners of properties destroyed or significantly damaged owe $25,000 in taxes for the second half of 2020, which come due in October, according to a Star Tribune review of county property records.”
“When it first hit my desk, I was flabbergasted that this was a requirement,” said developer David Wellington, whose family owns several properties that were destroyed in the riots. “We need to make noise for people who really need the help and, frankly, it isn’t us.”

Many of these small businesses owner lost their lone source of income to the rioting and looting because the local government refused to protect their property. Now they are being told that they must come up with tens of thousands of dollars in taxes just so they can pour even more money into their business to rebuild it.

Don Blyly had his bookstore destroyed during the riots, he says he still can’t haul away the wreck without a permit nor can he get a contractor to tell him how much it will cost to rebuild the store until it’s complete demolished.

He says “Minneapolis has not been particularly friendly toward business for some time.They say they want to be helpful, but they certainly have not been.”


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