Cash-strapped Minneapolis, Minnesota, is reportedly demanding that
riot-wrecked businesses, including those that were burned to the
ground in the protests following George Floyd’s death while in
the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department, pay their
property taxes before being allowed to rebuild.
TheMinneapolis
Star-Tribune reports that Minneapolis city government is not
issuing permits to remove ashes and debris leftover from arson
attacks until business owners pay their 2020 taxes in full.
“In Minneapolis, on a desolate lot where Don Blyly’s
bookstore stood before being destroyed in the May riots, two men
finish their cigarettes and then walk through a dangerous landscape
filled with slippery debris and sharp objects,†the Star-Tribune
said Wednesday. “The city won’t let Blyly haul away his
wreckage without a permit, and he can’t get a contractor to tell
him how much it will cost to rebuild the store until that
happens.â€
Dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed in widespread
looting in the days following George Floyd’s death. The
Minneapolis Star-Tribune, in a separate report, noted that 1,500
businesses were damaged and 150 were burned to the ground. TwinCities.com
said, in June, that the damage could cost business owners as
much as $55 million – and that was nearly two months ago.
Minneapolis officials say they’re bound by a law that
“prohibits the removal of any structures or standing timber until
all of the taxes assessed against the building have been fully
paid,†but Hennepin county, which enforces that law, says
they’ve suspended enforcement of that law for “riot-damaged
properties.â€
“We don’t feel like we have an ability to block these
permits, and I don’t see why we would,†one of the managers of
Hennepin’s property tax division told the Star-Tribune. “One of
our missions in the county is to reduce disparities, and if we took
action to block these permits, that would arguably be creating more
disparities instead of reducing disparities.â€
Business owners argue that Minneapolis is standing in the way of
rebuilding – a task which is already prohibitively 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,†the Star-Tribune reports. “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.â€
The Minneapolis City Council and city government are already in
hot water with residents after voting this week to strip funding
from the Minneapolis Police Department in the midst of a violent
crime wave. The city recorded
a massive spike in homicides in June, logging 42 homicides
already this year. The city saw only 48 homicides in all of
2019.
The post
Minneapolis Forcing Riot-Wrecked Businesses To Pay Property Taxes
Before Getting Permits To Rebuild appeared first on Harbingers Daily.
