To the editor:

Assuming that owners of real property have looked at their proposed 2020 property tax statements, what was your reaction (something that can be printed in a newspaper)? But we’re told that owners of business property are usually taxed at a higher rate since they’re making a profit, so owners of residential property get a “break.” Really?

The business sector will simply factor any increase in their property taxes into the cost of doing business. When you patronize a business, you may only pay a penny more per purchase, but when you add up the number of times you shop at different establishments during a calendar year, those pennies add up.

When my parents would receive the usual proposed tax increase on their apartment house in St. Paul, they would simple divide the increase by the number of apartments and add it to the rent, so the renters ended up paying for the taxes. Let’s just admit that we’re playing a game of smoke and mirrors.

Leo R. Lindquist

Balaton