Drop tax
on military retirees
It's time for the nearly 1,000 military retirees living in the 564 zip code area, which includes Park Rapids, to contact their state legislators.
Want to help solve Minnesota's $739 million revenue downturn through 2009? Get more military retirees to move here to start second careers and spend money on homes, cars, etc., to generate more tax revenues.
How do you get more military retirees to move here? Drop the state tax on military retirement pay, like 42 other states have done. We are losing millions of dollars annually to Wisconsin and the Dakotas because military retirees don't come here.
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The nearly 17,000 military retirees here now bring in more than $259 million annually. Most of this income is spent on items that have a sales tax. Military retirees bring their own health insurance at no cost to Minnesota. And for a state population our size, we should have 65,000 military retirees.
The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA) Chapter 115, www.trea115.org , is working with other veterans support groups to get more military retirees to come to Minnesota.
Mark Davidson,
Retired E-8, Air Force Reserve, Bloomington
