The Real Cost of “Aging in Place” in Minneapolis

You can’t champion “aging in place” while simultaneously raising taxes on residents who live on fixed incomes

Recently, I attended the South Minneapolis Senior Fair with my two favorite Southside seniors — my parents. The panel discussion, made up mostly of DSA-aligned elected officials, focused on “aging in place,” a concept that resonates deeply with older residents who’ve built their lives and homes here.

But as I listened, I couldn’t help but notice a paradox that no one on the stage seemed willing to acknowledge: you can’t champion “aging in place” while simultaneously raising taxes on residents who live on fixed incomes.

When I raised that question during the Q&A, the panel’s response was familiar — “tax the rich” and “tax businesses.” It’s a catchy slogan, but as policy, it’s not just shortsighted — it’s self-defeating.

Let’s start with the basics: Minneapolis needs to protect its tax base. You can’t push out homeowners along Lake of the Isles or Minnehaha Parkway with escalating property taxes and then lament that you don’t have enough tax revenue for all the programs you want. Every time we lose a taxpayer, we lose revenue that supports schools, parks, and public safety — the very things our residents rely on.

We also need to attract, not repel, major employers. When R.T. Rybak served as mayor, he made it a priority to keep major corporate headquarters downtown. Those decisions generated thousands of jobs, revitalized our urban core, and helped sustain our local economy. If our approach to economic development is to greet potential employers with higher taxes and regulatory hostility, we’ll continue to see downtown offices empty out and small businesses struggle.

And let’s be honest: the idea of “taxing the billionaires” simply doesn’t apply to Minneapolis. This isn’t New York or San Francisco. We don’t have billionaires to tax — and pretending otherwise distracts from the real challenge of building a stable, diversified local economy.

Even if we did have billionaires, it’s the Minnesota Legislature — not the Minneapolis City Council — that determines the state’s tax system. The Council can talk all it wants about “taxing the rich,” but it simply doesn’t have the power to do so. That’s political posturing, not policymaking.

If we want to revitalize downtown and rebuild our tax base, we need more than Taco John’s headquartered in Minneapolis. We should be welcoming companies of all sizes to grow and invest here — not driving them away. For example, Detroit actively recruits fast-growing companies (what they call “cheetahs”) through aggressive business incentives, and their downtown shows the results.

Then there’s the argument that “property values are rising, so people are fine.” That may sound comforting in theory, but it’s not the reality for most homeowners. Property value doesn’t translate into cash to live on or pay taxes with. Values haven’t increased uniformly across the city, and even where they have, long-time homeowners aren’t selling. Many have lived in their homes for 40 or 50 years. They’re not speculators — they’re our neighbors, retirees, and community anchors who simply want to stay in the homes they built their lives around.

If we truly believe in helping our seniors age in place, we can’t keep taxing them out of their neighborhoods. That means taking a hard look at how City Hall spends taxpayer dollars. If we’re serious about reducing the tax burden, we need to address the mismanagement of public funds — the money wasted on failed or unaudited city projects that deliver little value to residents. We should also reexamine the salaries of the city’s highest-paid employees. At a time when essential services are under strain and property taxes keep climbing, taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability. We should review the many new programs the City Council has added over the past six years and determine which are truly necessary and which are simply ideological.

As someone who grew up poor, I understand the emotional appeal behind “tax the rich.” But as the late Senator Paul Wellstone reminded us, “We all do better when we all do better.” That includes the business owners, entrepreneurs, and community leaders who invest in our city, create jobs, and donate to our local nonprofits. Not every person with wealth is greedy — many are generous, civic-minded, and deeply committed to seeing Minneapolis succeed.

Minneapolis doesn’t need more ideological posturing. We need practical, balanced policies that keep everyone invested in our shared future — from seniors on fixed incomes to working families, homeowners, and employers. We can’t afford to push away the very people and institutions that sustain our city. “Aging in place” shouldn’t just be a slogan — it should be a commitment. One that starts with fiscal responsibility, respect for taxpayers, and a city government that manages money as carefully as the people it serves.