Minnesota farmers need property tax relief now

Minnesota farm communities are being hit by the perfect storm: low commodity prices, high land values, and aging schools. It is not fair to stick farmers with big property tax bills, or leave students with outdated classrooms. That is why we are proposing a tax credit to provide Minnesota farmers immediate relief from rising agricultural property taxes. Minnesota students need the best possible schools. However, state school funding has not kept up with the needs of our students over the last 15 years. The deficit has forced many rural school districts to pass local property tax levies to fund basic needs like building improvements and classroom technology. And school district levies have fallen disproportionately on farmers in communities without significant high-value land.For family farmers, like David Kragnes, the cost of levies has been significant. David, his mother, and three sisters raise soybeans and corn on a 1,300 acre farm in Felton. In 2015, voters in the Moorhead School District passed a $78 million levy to pay for new school construction. Afterwards, David said, his property taxes increased roughly $4 an acre or an additional $2,600 a year for the acreage within the Moorhead district.