St. Paul MN

Property tax deferral for seniors

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Even though all baby boomers are incredibly wealthy some who own property will struggle to pay property taxes. Property owners in Ramsey county are facing an 11% increase in property taxes. There are also property tax refunds through the state but to get the refund the taxes have to be paid.

There is a deferred property tax program for seniors being offered by the state. The program caps property tax payments at 3% of the household income for people who are over 65, make less than $60,000 a year, and have lived in the home for at least 15 years.

The property taxes are deferred until the homeowner dies or the property is sold or if the homeowner withdraws from the program or if the property is no longer homestead.  More information about the Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program.

coins
spare change – the picture was taken during the before time when coins were abundant.

The national news media doesn’t understand the Twin Cities

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Minneapolis – St. Paul isn’t a place. Both cities are in Minnesota.  Yet there is a story in the New York Times “Minneapolis-St. Paul Election Results” the

MN state capital building
Minnesota State Capital – in St. Paul, Minnesota

story lists Minneapolis election results, no election results for St. Paul, and results of the referendums for both cities. There is no mention that Melvin Carter was re-elected as the mayor of St. Paul.  I hope he can put us on the map.

The article mentioned that the rent control referendum passed in St. Paul and that the referendum to replace the police department in Minneapolis failed.

The article and headline remind us how valuable local news sources are. The local media knows that Minneapolis and St. Paul are two different cities that happen to be next-door neighbors in the same state. It makes me wonder what else they get wrong.

Back to the rent control referendum. It is bad legislation if the goal is affordable housing but I totally understand why St. Paul renters turned out en-mass and voted in favor of it. It may ultimately mean higher housing prices but in the short term, it probably felt good to vote yes. More than half of St. Paul residents rent and they vote. 

I don’t have a breakdown of how many voters rent Vs. Own. If we could have a referendum against the 7% property tax increase for St. Paul property owners I’ll bet it would pass in a landslide.

Local elections for 2021 today

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

If you haven’t voted yet today is the day!  We will vote for a mayor and school board and will vote on a rent control ordinance.  If you haven’t voted yet you can vote between 7:00 AM today and 8:00 PM. If you don’t know where to go to vote you can look it up here. If you don’t know who to vote for or what is on the ballot you can find that on the Minnesota Secretary of state website.

Please go vote!

Voting on West 7th in St. Paul
vote

Time to turn it off

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

I write this every year. Now is a good time to turn off the water to your outdoor spigots and disconnect the hose. Last year I wasn’t able to remove one of the hoses.  I did turn off the water off.  In the spring when I went to turn it back on there was a leak in the house. A few hundred dollars later I had a new spigot.

The plumber removed the hose by heating the connection with his trusty blow torch. None of the people who gave me advice that I didn’t ask for on how to disconnect the hose came up with that one.

If you are a new homeowner or one who hasn’t winterized your outdoor spigots before there is a valve inside the house, usually in the basement a short distance from the spigot. Turn that valve off. I like to turn the faucet back on to drain any water.

butterflies on a zinnia
Monarch Butterflies on a Zinnia in my garden