The now infamous tiny house that was supposed to be a prototype for the city's Rebuild Duluth affordable housing program has instead turned out to be a massive and expensive…
The role of the far-left advocacy group gets noticed. We’ve written frequently of the St. Paul-based far-left advocacy group TakeAction Minnesota‘s efforts to move the state’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party ever…
News that the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC) faced a financial emergency shouldn’t have caught city councilors and officials by surprise. After all, earlier this month Mayor Emily Larson…
State and local taxes and spending Kittson County Enterprise: Governor Walz Announces Payments of up to $1,300 Will Begin This Week Minn Post: Downtowns, including St. Paul and Minneapolis, turning…
The Rebuild Duluth housing initiative began with the best of intentions like so many other government programs. The idea unveiled by Duluth Mayor Emily Larson four years ago was to…
Duluth Mayor Emily Larson can’t say no one warned her about the timing of her plan to put a tax increase for city parks on the ballot this year. The…
Days after launching a new app for citizens to report complaints with city services, Duluth has already logged some 265 responses and counting on the city’s Resident Problem Reporter. The…
Minnesotans vote for the worst examples of government spending.
It’s not the most expensive item on Mayor Emily Larson’s wish list for spending $58 million in the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief funds coming to Duluth. But Larson’s…
When the Democrat-controlled Congress resurrected earmarks earlier this year, the Grand Forks Herald reminded readers of why the poster child for wasteful government spending was abolished in a bipartisan effort…
In March, the city of Duluth was nominated for Center of the American Experiment’s Golden Turkey Award for its ongoing financial support — and bailouts — of the Spirit Mountain…
The economic downturn has exposed the shaky financial underpinnings of several Duluth city-subsidized facilities whose existence depends heavily on tourism taxes. Not only to meet payroll, but also to make…
Duluth faces a potential $38 million budget shortfall Mayor Emily Larson calls “absolutely catastrophic” in the wake of declining tax revenue projections due to the economic impact of the coronavirus.…
There’s been a slew of examples in recent months of local and state government bodies going to extremes to avoid public scrutiny and accountability. The more notorious incidents include a…
Amtrak’s operating loss for 2018 came in at $168 million–and they’re proud of it. Never mind that the passenger line would be even more in the red if the cost…
Duluth City Hall continues to proceed full-speed ahead with hiring a full-time “compliance officer” to enforce a controversial paid-time off mandate scheduled to take effect next year. Many employers predict…
The city government may have a long way to go, but give Duluth Mayor Emily Larson credit. Turnover at top positions in City Hall has paved the way for the…
There may be hope for the Duluth City Council after all. Days after council members impotently stood by while a mob of masked and screaming protesters shut down a meeting…
A Supreme Court decision could shut down the way cities have quietly raised revenues without raising taxes.
Minnesota’s Constitution imposes some important limitations on a city’s tax power. For several years, the city of St. Paul has imposed a right-of-way assessment on all property owners to fund…
Are the right-of-way charges for street maintenance that Minnesota cities charge property owners a tax or a fee? Recently the Minnesota Supreme Court clearly ruled that street maintenance charges are…
Last year Center of the American Experiment decided to get involved in a legal challenge to St. Paul’s right-of-way maintenance fee and filed an amicus brief because we believed the…