AM.MN: Counties cut, hike property-tax levies

Reports from around the state about property tax shifts are, well, all over the map. A unanimous vote Tuesday to lower the property tax levy by about 1 percent left one Beltrami County commissioner worried about road maintenance and 4H funding. In Scott County, cutting levy levels will mean $44 million less for maintaining roads over the next decade, necessitating a road show to sell the plan to community groups. Elsewhere, state cuts to Local Government Aid inspired local tax hikes: Stearns County will slash spending by 14 percent while raising property taxes 4.5 percent; in the city of Caledonia, the levy will jump 20.71 percent.

Elsewhere in Minnesota headlines this morning …

ST. PAUL: Pricetag for Pawlenty’s borrowed labor is $676,000. Other state agencies paid staff that served the governor, including $82,912 so he could get advice on faith and community services. [Associated Press]

MINNEAPOLIS: Republican candidate for Minneapolis mayor lodges complaint. Officials wouldn’t let him list both party and principle (“moderate progressive Republican”) on the ballot, so he settled for “moderate progressive censored” — which actually has a pretty good ring to it. [Star Tribune]

BEMIDJI: Drilling for oil pipeline collapses highway. Not the best way for Enbridge Energy to start work on its controversial Alberta Clipper pipeline from Canada to Superior, Wis. [Bemidji Pioneer]

ALEXANDRIA: Officials bracing for “shake and bake” meth trend. It hasn’t hit Minnesota yet, but the recipe for new-method methamphetamine has raised suspicions about even small purchases of cold medicine, a main ingredient. [Alexandria Echo Press]

KANDIYOHI COUNTY: New price for pranks. Now tossing toilet paper into trees will net you a $300 fine. [West Central Tribune]

STATE CAPITOL: Visitors’ guide now in Somali. Did “quadriga” stump the translator, or was there already a word for gold-painted horses? [Associated Press]