ST. PAUL –Legislators Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls) and Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) proposed a number of ways to provide broad tax relief to workers, homeowners and drivers.

“People are struggling now with costs. Housing, food and clothing have gone up quite a bit,” said Dahms.

He said the first tax relief proposal by Senate Republicans would undo a 2023 base vehicle (license plate) tab rate hike and undo a slow rate of tab fee depreciation, both of which he blamed on the DFL party.

“I have heard from constituents who are surprised to see some license tab fees increase, costing Minnesotans more out of their family budget,” said Dahms. “Our state tab fees are an outlier and the steepest in the region. Senate Republicans are working to get this cost back under control. There is some real license tab fee shock out there. Some people are paying $1,200 to $1,400 a year if they’re driving newer vehicles. We’d like to roll them back to the rates before the last big increase.”

Senate Republicans are proposing to cap property taxes. Rates could be increased over the cap, but only if approved by at the ballot box, according to one proposal.

Dahms said local government entities across the state were forced into difficult budget situations this year due to fraud, mandates, and a state spending spree.

“If counties need to increase property taxes 1%, I believe it would be essential that the Minnesota Legislature figure out a way to make up the revenue difference,” he said. “We have a long way to go to get it through the Senate. My friends across the aisle (Democrats) aren’t excited about it.”

Senate Republicans are also proposing a tax conformity bill to align Minnesota with recent federal changes eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay.

Dahms said the policy has broad, bipartisan support.

According to bills carried by Sen. Karin Housley (R-Stillwater), there would be a $25,000 maximum deduction on tips and $12,500 for overtime. Both deductions would phase out when income hits $150,000 for single-filers and $300,000 for married-joint filers.

Torkelson said part of the current economic uncertainty centers on federal funds that may not be available if Minnesota refuses to comply with federal law.

“By failing to conform to federal guidelines regarding welfare payments, such as requiring employment for able-bodied adults who receive government benefits and performing eligibility checks on those individuals every six months, our state puts hundreds of millions of federal funds at risk,” he said. “It means a little more work for people who work with these programs, but it would mean more federal money coming to Minnesota.”

Torkelson said there is lots of bonding bill interest.

“Right now, we don’t have money budgeted to do it, but I understand there is financing available. I’m certainly not giving up on it,” he said. “A (Front Street) lift station in New Ulm has not been funded yet, but we’re working on it. Funding was requested a few years ago. Hopefully, this is the year we can get it done.”

Torkelson and Dahms visited the project site to show support for it last October. New Ulm Public Utilities requested half of the project cost, $2.01 million come from the State of Minnesota.

Former New Ulm Public Utilities Director Kris Manderfeld said the lift station built in 1974 is reaching the end of its life. If it failed, waste would discharge into the Minnesota River, impacting water quality.

By completing the gravity sewer project, the City of New Ulm reduces the risk of overflow into the river. Decommissioning the lift station and replacing it with a gravity sewer would reduce maintenance costs and electrical usage plus gravity rarely fails.

Torkelson said another budget priority of his is updating county human services software for more efficiency and fewer errors.

“I’m meeting with state agencies Monday to light a fire for this. Some of it was funded last year,” he said. “We’d like to get all human services agencies up to date. It won’t happen all at once, but we need to get the ball rolling in the right direction.”