Reprinted from

Monday, September 11, 2006 Volume 17, Issue 36

Otto says taxes, competence top issues in auditor race
By Marshall Helmberger

Rebecca Otto says her race to unseat first-term state auditor Pat Anderson comes down to two issues— rising property taxes and competence. Otto, who is the DFL endorsed candidate for auditor this year, stopped at the Timberjay office in Tower last week as part of a recent campaign swing to the Iron Range.

A former state legislator, school board member, and successful small business owner, Otto is hitting a theme that may well resonate with voters. According to Otto, steep cuts in local government aid, first proposed by Anderson, have forced communities across the state to raise property taxes to pay for basic services. “Property taxes are up by over $2 billion,” she said, noting that the increases correspond almost dollar-for-dollar to the cuts in local government aids. That $2.1 billion rise in property taxes includes projected increases through the 2008 fiscal year.

Otto said she hears complaints about the local aid cuts wherever she goes, especially in Greater Minnesota, where she said people are more in tune with their local government. “People are becoming much more aware of what these policies really mean. I met a gentlemen in Hibbing the other day, turns out he’s a Republican, but at the end of our conversation, he asked for one of my signs. People at the end of the day just want good government.”

Otto criticizes Anderson for her contention that services such as libraries should be considered “non-essential. “People want to be able to afford public safety and most think libraries are essential to their communities,” she said. Otto said Anderson’s policies may work fine in Eagan, where Anderson was mayor prior to seeking the auditor position, but not for most other parts of Minnesota. She said it’s time for state policies that focus on the common good, rather than the interests of those groups which have benefitted from tax policies supported by Anderson and her poltical ally Gov. Tim Pawlenty. She said rising property taxes, which fall disproportionately on those of modest means, are just part of an ongoing squeeze of the middle class.

According to Otto, Anderson’s political alliance with the governor has turned an office that had long been considered non-partisan, into an intensely partisan and even punitive position. Otto said Anderson’s approach has alienated many local officials and made her less effective than she might otherwise have been.

In order to reduce the pressure on property taxes, Otto is proposing a one-time property tax rebate along with permanent tax relief by restoring local government aids and buying back a greater portion of school levies.

While Otto has been critical of Anderson’s tax proposals, she has been even more outspoken about what she sees as a lax attitude in Anderson’s office. She has repeatedly held press conferences to point out errors in a number of financial reports issued by Anderson’s office. She most recently cited a $180 million error in a report on special taxing districts in the state. That was on top of $12 million in missing education dollars in a report issued by Anderson’s office earlier this summer, as well as other more minor errors in previous reports.

Anderson, during an interview with the Timberjay last month, dismissed the errors as inconsequential. But Otto said Anderson needs to take the problem more seriously. “Most people think $180 million is big deal,” she said. Whether the numbers are large or small, Otto said it’s pattern of lax management that is of concern.

“Legislators are making important decisions based on those numbers,” she said. “As auditor, I will strive to make sure the numbers add up before the report goes out,” she said.

Otto has also cited the theft of laptop computers from Anderson’s office earlier this summer as further evidence that Anderson isn’t serious about the job. She criticized Anderson for being out of the office campaigning the day after three office laptops, which contained protected personal data, were stolen. “I’d be doing my job and getting to the bottom of the security breach,” she said.

While one security lapse could be excused, Otto said the three laptops were stolen just one month after another laptop went missing from the office. Otto said the first theft should have been a red flag that the office’s security needed to be improved, but she says Anderson failed to take steps to fix the problem until the second incident.

Otto, who lives on a rural homestead north of Stillwater with her husband Shawn and son Jake, has captured some attention outside of politics. The home she and her husband built 12 years ago, is heated primarily by the sun, due to its passive solar design. The Ottos have also installed a wind generator, which provides about 80 percent of their home’s electrical power. Their home is the featured residence in this fall’s annual solar home tour, sponsored by the Midwest Renewable Energy Society.

Otto said her family’s commitment to energy independence and efficiency reflects the same attitudes she has brought to public service. “It’s about responsibility,” she said.