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Baxter group to sit in on legislative sales tax talks BAXTER CITY COUNCIL Staff Writer BAXTER - On Wednesday a contingent from Baxter, Brainerd and Nisswa will travel to St. Paul to sit in on local option sales tax hearings before the Senate Tax Committee.
Baxter City Administrator Dennis Coryell said Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, will be testifying on behalf of the three cities. Baxter, Brainerd and Nisswa have adopted resolutions seeking Legislative approval for .5 percent sales taxes.
In Brainerd and Baxter, the sales tax would raise no more than $15 million and its collection would end in 12 years. Nisswa's collection of sales taxes would go toward costs related to the Highway 371 improvement project.
Along with Legislative approval, Brainerd and Nisswa would need approval from residents with a referendum in the November general election. Baxter voters approved the sales tax in the 2004 general election.
If approved by the Senate Tax Committee, the cities' resolution would be presented to the entire Senate, Coryell said.
"We're pretty certain the Senate is behind us on this. They support it," Coryell said. "It's definitely going better than last year."
During last year's legislative session, Baxter was denied its bid for a .5 percent sales tax, even after voters in 2004 approved the tax by a vote of 2,177 to 1,559. In denying Baxter's sales tax, the Legislature told Baxter officials it would prefer present a joint sales tax proposal with other area cities.
The House also would need to approve the sales tax. Coryell said in previous meetings Minnesota House Speaker Steve Sviggum had supported the bill that would allow Brainerd, Baxter and Nisswa to collect a local sales tax.
"We're really motivated now after this meeting tonight," Baxter Mayor Darrel Olson said during Tuesday's city council meeting about the combined effort to lobby for the sales tax. The Baxter City Council approved about $10 million for a water treatment facility and a public works maintenance facility. A portion of the sales tax could go toward offsetting the water treatment facility costs.
MATT ERICKSON can be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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