Imagine if all the swappable land had conservation easements

Pioneer Press Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:24:21 -0700
Panel OKs trade for Vermilion park

To bolster local support for a proposed state park along Lake Vermilion, state Sen. Tom Bakk pitched a land swap Friday. To bolster local support for a proposed state park along Lake Vermilion, state Sen. Tom Bakk pitched a land swap Friday. Bakk, DFL-Cook, asked a Senate committee to endorse a plan forcing the state to give St. Louis County enough land to make up for the 3,000 acres it would lose from its tax rolls if the state bought the scenic lakefront property in northeastern Minnesota from U.S. Steel. The land would be turned into a state-of-the-art park. Without such a trade, Bakk said, the county would be hurt financially. The county received about $160,000 a year in taxes from the property but would lose it if the state bought those acres. The land would generate even more in future taxes if sold to private developers. "The potential tax capacity they are giving up is astronomical," Bakk said. With 61 percent of St. Louis County's land publicly owned and off the tax rolls, the county already struggles to find enough revenue to pay for services, Bakk said. Members of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee had questions about the approach, including the property the state would lose elsewhere, but passed the measure anyway. It's still not clear whether the trade will be needed.

[[keywords: LandUse;PropertyTax;Metro;]]