AM.MN: You can gripe about taxes, but they don’t have to listen

The state Legislature wanted to reduce the burdens it puts on local governments, but most of the reforms didn’t make it into law last session. One that did makes it so hearings where citizens can formally protest local taxes aren’t required anymore. Proponents of the change argued that the hearings usually came too late in the budget process to make a difference anyway.

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

DELANO: Emmer’s in. Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer lambasted “public bureaucracies” while making formal his ambition to lead them, as governor. [ECM Publications]

FRIDLEY: So’s Seifert. The man whose House Minority Leader job Emmer once sought, Marty Seifert, begins a campaign he hopes ends at the governor’s mansion by visiting 14 cities in four days. [Associated Press]

ST. PAUL: Pawlenty delays business tax refunds he once wanted immediate. A sales-tax exemption should happen “right away” when firms buy major equipment, the governor said in his State of the State address — but now he’ll put off repaying businesses $63 million by three months. [Minnesota Public Radio]

MINNEAPOLIS: Time capsule from 1934 to be opened today. The cornerstone of Building 9 at the Minneapolis Veteran’s Home held a box labeled “Do Not Open Until Next Great Depression.” [Associated Press]

EAGAN: Emerald ash borer so far a no-show. The invasive beetle, first sighted in Minnesota along the Minneapolis-St. Paul city line, apparently hasn’t heard about about the good life in the suburbs. [Sun Newspapers]

AUSTIN: Bluebird makes nest in newspaper box. Canary in a media coal mine? [Rochester Post-Bulletin]