Minneapolis: city of average taxes

'Tis the season to yowl about taxes. In Minnesota, this has become something of a cottage industry, the mantra being that we suffer an especially odious burden. So you might wonder: where could things possibly be any worse than in Minneapolis, bastion of reckless tax-and-spend liberalism? Actually, according to a study performed by the city government of the District of Columbia, quite a few places. In a ranking of 51 cities nationwide (using 2003 figures and calculated on the basis of income, property, sales and auto taxes for a family of four earning $75,000), Minneapolis came out in the number 23 position, only a fraction of a percentage point above average. Filthy Bolshevik enclaves such as Boise, Des Moines, Omaha and Charlotte all ranked higher.