During the pandemic, small businesses, local neighborhood stores and many restaurants struggled to stay afloat.
Supply chain issues, higher gas prices and overall health precautions stunted economic growth and created new barriers for those running a business. Restaurants especially lost significant revenue, having closed their dining rooms and forced into finding creative ways to stay afloat.
Fortunately, we now find ourselves in a time of rebuilding and recovering. Yet, some Minnesota legislators seem focused on slowing recovery efforts by supporting HF 580, an unnecessary regressive tax on Minnesotans that will hurt those who can least afford it.
This proposed delivery fee mandated on nearly every Minnesota consumer undoes any progress made post pandemic, and will negatively impact everyone involved. As the state looks for thoughtful solutions to solve transportation challenges, the proposed fee will enable more harm than good. HF 580 proposes an unprecedented tax of $.75 on every delivery made to the residents of Minnesota. With the state’s $18 billion budget surplus, there is no justification of an additional tax on virtually all deliveries. Additionally, that cost and some will be passed on to Minnesota consumers who need every dollar possible to raise their families.
This tax will affect not only restaurants, but every Minnesotan that relies on deliveries. Nearly half of Americans rely daily on delivery services. Busy families, elderly, and the disabled rely on delivery services daily to maintain their livelihoods and access essential everyday items. They depend on food, household items and personal care items to be delivered to their homes, and this proposed tax would only add another burden. The effects of HF 580 goes further than many realize, and in the end does not provide any benefits, costing households more money for things they need to survive.
[image_caption]Hollies Winston[/image_caption]
And let’s not forget the delivery drivers who will also be negatively affected. By discouraging delivery with regressive tax rates, there will be less demand and less opportunities for delivery drivers to supplement their income.
Just say no to this new proposed tax and yes to keeping Minnesota businesses and consumers on the path to economic growth.
Hollies Winston is the mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
Ah, so business is supposedly entitled to use our shared public amenities to increase their profit margin, but not expected to compensate for their increased use? Spare me the pity party, we survived just wonderfully without grubhub and Amazon, or the myriad other wage slave outfits trying to convince the world that leaving the house is apparently too difficult, and that their paying their workers garbage wages is better than local brick and mortar business paying their workers well.
So many fallacies so little time.
You di realize local businesses also deliver, and rhe pay nuch higher property taxes then homes? Businesses subsidize home owners .
Also delivery vehicles still gas tax. Should we tax someone who drives to the grocery store instead of delivery since the store is profiting by the shared amenity. Of course 5his tax will be regressive in nature, another bugaboo.
And of course grandpa should bike in January to the grocery store. And if he doesn’t make it, he will thereb y decrease the surplus population.
Or much better for a single parent to handle up the kids start a cold car and go for a trip, which is more inefficient than a delivery service.
If Matt doesn’tike it it must be bad.
“So many fallacies so little time.”
It’s just the DFL way.
They are paying registration tax and gas tax just like the rest of us.
But driving 5 times as much. Does their gas tax contribution make up the difference? I don’t think so. I notice neither of you touched the wage piece, I’m shocked, shocked I tell you. God forbid you might need to actually visit a restaurant and pay a server a reasonable wage rather than have a wage slave “contractor” deliver your greasy garbage.
Sheesh. So it’s not “greasy garbage” if you pay more for the same stuff at a restaurant because someone carried the plates across a restaurant floor vs across town? Just a nasty hysterical nonsense point.
Zip recruiter sesrch says MPlS door dash workers make $25-65k anually, restaurant servers $17-52.
Also, take into account the “creative” moves the door dasher can do on their taxes by deducting all their business use of stuff (vehicles, milage, electronics, etc.) and they can come out way ahead of any W2 worker. Not to mention no boss to answer to, and a schedule that you control.
W2 package trade workers: Amazon $28-111k yearly, FedEx $48-57k, UPS $36-77k.
Combine all this with delivered items generally having lower carbon footprint than individuals driving on their own to run errands and what was you point again?
Just relax guy, getting chapped like this is bad for your mental health.
Found the “gig economy” evangelist.
Though I do thank you for your efforts to lay to waste the COVID era conservative lament about the government “destroying” the restaurant industry by enforcing shut downs. Turns out it was nothing but grandstanding hypocrisy, whoda thunk it…
Vs what? That one driver/delivery person, makes many deliveries every day, in an efficient manner, vs everybody driving around on their own. What is your objective, reducing the number of miles travelled on the roads, or taxing people? It is simply a much more efficient system. So now they get penalized for it? Brilliant!
In the case of most deliveries each one is usually made separately except when good timing and volume of orders combine to create opportunities for efficiency – which is the exception not the rule. The only truly efficient delivery is one made on an assigned route that stays nearly the same every day like some UPS, all postal deliveries etc. WHEN YOU RAISE THE GAS TAX THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING GOES UP – NOT JUST PRIVATE DELIVERY – BECAUSE IT ALL COMES TO RETAIL FROM WHOLESALERS ON TRUCKS. AND GAS USE IS GOING DOWN AND WILL NEVER INCREASE AGAIN. Sorry – there are going to be more alternative taxes to replace gas tax in future – delivery tax is probably just the first new one. Here’s a thought – how about cutting spending? Light rail and bike lanes are a luxury we can’t afford. I’m sure there are a lot more extras that are unjustified as well.
“Ah, so business is supposedly entitled to use our to increase their profit margin, but not expected to compensate for their increased use? ”
You know “shared public amenities” is an interesting word choice. Let’s build on that concept a little.
Guess who pays more in property taxes than any other entity in the State of Minnesota. Go ahead, guess. Don’t know?
Well, it’s Xcel Energy. So why don’t you disconnect from their evil electric grid? Not just your house but your car too, because even if it’s gas-powered as it takes electricity to run the gas pumps. Trucks need pumps too, so how do you plan to feed yourself?
The easy way to address this, while not perfect (nothing is), is to raise the gas tax to cover the actual, true cost of burning gas. The actual societal costs of burning a gallon of gas is much higher than the ~$3.65 we pay at the pump. In essence, EVERYBODY is paying the difference through state & federal environmental remediation costs and increased health costs due to pollution.
And Minnesota’s gas tax hasn’t been raised since 2008. Today, the tax would have to be $0.41 to have the same purchasing power as the $0.29 gas tax in 2008. And it STILL wouldn’t cover the costs because transportation is still heavily funded through the general fund.
It should be called a “user fee” since it’s essentially dedicated to transportation. And it should be indexed to inflation.
https://www.startribune.com/the-many-reasons-a-gas-tax-hike-is-overdue-in-minnesota/600262979/
Would Meals on Wheels volunteers pay the fee?
Is the tax collected dedicated to specific purposes?
The image a the top should show an Amazon delivery truck – what we all see a dozen times a day driving through our neighborhoods- not a door dash bicycle delivery person which is about as rare as an 80 degree April day in MN.
A more sensible solution would be to raise the gas tax (with auto adj for inflation), but this is at least an effort to fund transportation.
According to House Bill HF 580 that passed (but will surely be changed by the Senate):
The revenue raised by this fee is allocated to the following:
▪ one percent to a food delivery support account;
▪ 45 percent to the highway user tax distribution fund;
▪ 24 percent to a larger cities assistance account;
▪ 19 percent to the small cities assistance account; and ▪ 11 percent to the town road account.
The bill also appropriates $25 million from the trunk highway fund for intersection conversion projects.
Let us have the DFL campaign for the delivery tax in the next election.
Would that not be good for our democracy?