Iron Range Fiscal Disparities Study

Abstract

This document examines disparities in the property tax base in counties and townships across Minnesota’s Iron Range communities, including coastal regions in the Sea Grant study area. There is no mention of water resources in this document, with the exception of cabins. Key points are reproduced below. “The concept of sharing commercial, industrial, and utility property tax base among the jurisdictions of a region is called “fiscal disparities.” This study examines the fiscal disparities in the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. The Iron Range Fiscal Disparities (IFRD) program, established in 1996, was set up to share commercial-industrial tax-base in the region known as the ‘taconite assistance area.’ Taconite assistance area tax base and Fiscal Disparities program have grown since 2001. Since 2001 the taconite assistance area has experienced tax base growth at twice the rate of the state as a whole (80% and 42% respectively). At the same time the area’s population has been unchanged while the state’s population has grown by 8%. Strong growth in commercial, industrial and utility values have caused the Iron Range Fiscal Disparities tax base sharing pool to grow by almost 600% since 2001. The amount of the area’s total tax base in the fiscal disparities pool is 3.7%, up from 1% in 2001.”