Dear Cam, Ed, and the readers of Southside Pride.
What to do about property taxes? Such an easy problem to solve! Why doesn’t the State of Minnesota buy the Minnesota Twins and operate the team to benefit all the communities that depend on property taxes to pay for necessary services and infrastructure? They are, after all, up for sale, and Governor Walz is quite proud of the budget surpluses he racks up for the state. In fact, he even told me himself it was an interesting idea in 2018 when he first ran for Governor! Since there is no Rozelle Clause limiting the team’s sale to a public entity, what’s to stop us? Unlike the NFL charter that unconstitutionally limits the team owner’s ability to sell, implemented after the City of Green Bay bought the Packers to thwart an attempt to move the team out of state, MLB does not have this limit, so it’s a green field. Who needs private equity funds or out of town billionaires to milk our towns, teams and fans when we have the most industrious, hardest working taxpayers around?
So instead of getting a tax rebate, I propose we forgo the few hundred dollars and all work toward this possibility. Of course, this plan will inevitably lead to charges of socialism; but it isn’t. It’s a capitalist plan all the way. Like Green Bay, the state should take the team public so everyone can be a shareholder, as well as a fan. Run the team for profit, but use it to offset costs normally borne by property taxes, not make an owner richer. Municipalize all professional sports franchises in the Twin Cities and we can eliminate nearly all forms of taxation in the state. Nationwide, it would change EVERYTHING.
But wait, there’s more! While we cut property taxes to benefit homeowners and landlords – and use the proceeds to make sure we have the best schools and services in the nation – we can also offer our ADOS residents and indigenous neighbors’ common stock in each team at par value before each IPO, giving each a chance to accrue generational wealth moving forward as a form of reparations. Since property owners are already getting a boon, all that’s left is to make EVERYONE whole. No taxes, social justice, great schools; everyone wins.
If anyone is interested in this plan, please let the folks at Southside Pride know; I’ve got the framework of a plan already written and ready to go. I call it the “Save the World Hat Trick.”
And the Governor ALREADY said it was interesting…
Ken Shain
