Eight-year-old Jasmine Brunschon of Chisago City has been selected as a state finalist in the National American Miss Minnesota pageant to be held June 2 in Bloomington. Jasmine enjoys gymnastics, dance, swimming and comedy, and she is an aspiring artist.

Jim Shaver, Carnelian-Marine-St. Croix Watershed District administrator, offered the Scandia council four ways to improve the water quality of Goose Lake on a site tour May 20. One option, replacing the beach with natural marsh plants, would prevent beach sand from washing into the water.

The May 14 work session of the Scandia City Council was a special meeting with the Carnelian-Marine-St. Croix Watershed District.

In attendance were watershed district Administrator Jim Shaver and managers Steve Kronmiller, Kristin Tuenge and John Lennes; City Planner Sherri Buss; Maintenance Superintendent Tim Kiefer; Greg Zauner and Mike White from the Park and Recreation Committee; Planning Commissioner Sue Bies; and Jed Chesnut of the Washington Conservation District.

Carnelian-Marine-St. Croix, one of three watershed districts in Scandia, covers most of the northeast, southeast and southwest quadrants of the city, including Big Marine Lake. The northwest quadrant, including Bone Lake, is part of the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake watershed. A small area surrounding White Rock Lake drains to the southwest and is part of the Rice Creek Watershed District.

At the May 14 work session, Shaver gave a status report on ongoing programs and introduced potential projects.

Then, on May 20, Shaver accompanied the council on a road tour and site visit to discuss future capital improvement projects. The photographs accompanying this story are from the May 20 road tour.

Farm run-off from high ground west of Oldfield Avenue increases the phosphorus content in Goose Lake.

A 20- by 30-feet iron sand filter installed here, on the east side of Oldfield Avenue, would remove phosphorus from the water before it enters the lake. Jim Shaver is on the left and Scandia Mayor Randall Simonson on the right.

Goose Lake

Goose Lake is considered impaired because of excess nutrients. Shaver said residents Roland Dant and Bonnie McKinney gave an easement to construct a dry holding pond for storm water, to slow the water entering the lake and reduce erosion in the ravine.

Private shoreline buffers are also needed. One landowner is willing to convert a grass lawn to a native prairie buffer, Shaver said.

The public boat landing needs repair, including changing the driveway, adding a curb, planting a rain garden and “enhancing the swales”—adding vegetation and check dams in the ditches to manage runoff.

To significantly reduce the amount of phosphorus entering the lake, the watershed district would like to install a filter made of sand with iron filings.

This type of filter, developed at the University of Minnesota, has been used successfully in Stillwater and Maplewood. When the iron rusts, forming iron oxides, dissolved phosphorus binds to the oxides by surface adsorption.

Water from the St. Sauver farm is carried by drain tiles into a wetland, from which it passes under Oldfield Avenue onto city-owned property. The sand iron filter would be built on the city land.

Between the Log House Landing parking lot and the river, the road to the boat launch is very steep.

Scandia council, staff, and residents stand at the top of a gully while discussing options for the Log House Landing.

Log House Landing

The Log House Landing is eroding so fast that in 2012 Kieffer’s maintenance crew hauled in 50 tons of driveway rock, or five dump truck loads.

The city-owned boat launch gives boaters free access to the St. Croix River from a steep, unpaved road in a residential setting, between William O’Brien State Park and the Osceola Landing.

The council voted last October to restrict parking to one side of 205th Street to relieve congestion and improve access for emergency vehicles.

Now another decision must be made: Should the city pave the landing, change it to a carry-in canoe and kayak launch or close it altogether?

“Boats with trailers are tearing up the ground something fierce to get up the hill,” Mayor Randall Simonson said.

Shaver said paving and erosion repair could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Storm water would be trapped halfway down and stored in an infiltration basin.

“Twenty years ago, the only thing you could launch there was a canoe,” White said. “Why can’t we go back to that?”

Closing the road from the parking lot down to the river, preventing boat trailers from being used,  might cost closer to $20,000, Shaver said.

Closing the site altogether would keep the gravel out of the river, reduce maintenance costs and make one less site to monitor. Some nearby neighbors might welcome this option, saying nonresidents are the main users of the site. But this solution could also be unpopular with people from Scandia.

Resident Lisa Schlingermann said that when “No Parking” signs went up on one side of the road last fall, fishermen from out of town posted critical comments online.

On the website www.hotspotoutdoors.com, one user wrote, “This is a great jumping-off point and can be super fishing in the early months of the season. Let’s not let bureaucrats and unhappy neighbors close this landing to sportsmen!”

Another wrote, “Just how much are these locals inconvenienced by fishermen who dare to intrude on ‘their’ river? Unless it’s known that it’s happening, only those wishing to close or restrict the landing will be heard.”

“This is going to be controversial,” Councilmember Dan Lee said at the meeting.

Watershed district administration will get approximate costs for the three options and report back to the council. Because of its location on a nationally protected scenic river, Shaver said, the Log House Landing could be eligible for grant money, but probably not enough for paving.

Watershed district President Kronmiller suggested the Park and Recreation Committee become involved to reference the historical significance of the site. According to the Washington County Historical Society website, when white settlers came up the river on steamboats, many arrived at the Log House Landing.

City Administrator Kristina Handt pointed out the Scandia promotes the landing as a tourist destination. “It’s in our ad in the St. Croix Valley Guide,” she said.

The mayor said a canoe and kayak launch would still be attractive to tourists.

Another project on the St. Croix River, an 8-foot ravine on 197th Street that continues to erode, will be rebuilt even though it is on private property and there are no grants available, Shaver said.

Sand Lake

Sand Lake is the destination for water that flows from downtown Scandia, including Lilleskogen Park.

The watershed district has a $136,000 three-year matching Minnesota Pollution Control Agency grant to build water quality projects in the Sand Lake and Long Lake watersheds.

“Sand Lake is more critical than Long Lake, because it’s closer to being considered impaired,” Shaver said. “I would lobby for a good portion of the money to go to an iron filter for Sand Lake.”

Shaver said reducing phosphorus loading in the Sand Lake stream channel would require buy-in participation from city and residents, with easements from property owners.

Some changes being considered for Lilleskogen, such as permeable pavers for the parking lot, rain gardens and wetland reconstruction with water quality benefits, may qualify for MPCA funding.

The watershed district paid for the adjustable weir structure in Lilleskogen.

Invasive Species

Shaver said it is vitally important that the city, watershed district and lake homeowners associations help the DNR in the battle against aquatic invasive species, such as zebra mussels.

To pay for increased monitoring of public landings, one idea is for local units of government to share the cost.

“I don’t want to manage payroll for a lot of inspectors,” he said. “I hope the county will manage it and we all contribute.”

Handt suggested using high school volunteers who need community service hours.

Kronmiller said another idea being discussed is a two-tier licensing system for boats. Boaters who live on a lake and use their boat only on that lake are not bringing in new species, he said. A license that lets a boat access all lakes might cost 10 times as much as a single-lake license.

“How can we get the cost borne by the people who are creating the problem?” he asked.

Impervious Surface Calculation

When the council recently granted variances to allow the owners of a small lake lot to build a new house, the area around a two-track driveway was not counted as part of the impervious surface. The lot owners had been told by the watershed district that the grassy part of the driveway, if made with 8 inches of sand under 4 inches of topsoil, would qualify as pervious surface.

But after the soil becomes compacted, it is not permeable. City staff wondered if such a driveway should be allowed to meet the 25 percent maximum impervious surface requirement.

“Going forward, I don’t think I’ll consider it,” Shaver said. “They wore me down.”

Kronmiller said the real issue was “trying to build a mansion on a postage-stamp-size lot. We’re trying to use [a lakeshore lot] in ways it was not platted for, such as a seasonal property. We’ve got to stop putting big houses 10 feet from lot lines.”

The watershed district and city staff also agreed that permeable paving (which must be maintained to stay permeable) and the area beneath a deck (which has no plant life growing) should not be counted as pervious surface.

Memo of Understanding

The two groups also looked at the first draft of a memorandum of understanding clarifying procedures between city and watershed district.

In development proposals and variance requests, both the city and watershed district have authority.

“We have separate sets of rules but must work together,” Buss said.

Kronmiller said the document should help the property owner know when to consult the watershed district and the county. Missing a meeting at a critical time can delay a project by a month, he said.

The Carnelian-Marine-St. Croix Watershed District board meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at the Scandia Community Center.

A citizens advisory committee for the watershed district will meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29.

Weary lawmakers quit the State Capitol shortly after midnight on Monday (May 20) after setting a two-year, $38 billion state budget.

“I think it worked extraordinarily well for Minnesota,” Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton said of DFL control of state government.

Final pieces of the five-month session slipped into place in the waning hours with lawmakers passing a tax-the-rich style $2 billion tax increase bill and a $177 million bonding bill that slates $109 million to State Capitol restoration.

“I think it was propitious,” Rep. Jerry Newton, DFL-Coon Rapids, said of the water that seeped into the State Capitol tunnel over the stormy weekend.

Hours earlier an $800 million bonding bill had crashed on the House floor, and Newton believes the seeping water served as a damp reminder of unfinished work on the Capitol building.

Dayton would have liked to have seen the House bonding bill signed into law.

“I don’t get all I want. Nobody does,” he said sagely.

The 2013 session was touched by history, and made it.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre had lawmakers examining gun control. But many Greater Minnesota Democrats, as well as Republicans, were wary of universal background checks, closing perceived gun-show loopholes, and legislative leaders scuttled the initiative late in the session .

But history took place at the State Capitol over a series of days in May that saw House and Senate, in some of the most powerful, emotional, and controversial debate in years, pass legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

“I think the enormity of this (marriage) bill cannot be overstated,” Dayton said at the time.

Five Republicans, including Sen. Branden Petersen of Andover and Representatives Pat Garofalo of Farmington and  Jenifer Loon of Eden Prairie,  joined Democrats in making Minnesota the 12th state, effective Aug. 1, in which same-sex couples can legally marry.

Six thousand people witnessed Dayton sign the marriage legislation into law on a sunny, hot afternoon outside the State Capitol.

“How will Minnesota react to this? — I don’t know,” House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, said.

“It is what it is,” he said of the divisive issue.

“Frankly, we’re more concerned about what is going to happen to Minnesota’s economy,” Daudt said.

But it wasn’t the marriage bill but legislation regarding possible child care and personal care attendant unionization that monopolized House and Senate floor debate.

Senate Republicans debated the bill 17 hours, while House Republicans, mindful of their Senate colleagues robust efforts, armed themselves with about 120 amendments and sporadically debated the legislation over several days.

Passage of the emotionally-charged bill had a few House Republicans shouting insults at House Speaker Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, as cheers erupted from union activists in the House gallery.

Democrats are even-toned.

“All I did was vote to allow them (child care providers and personal care attendants) to hold a vote,” Rep. John Benson, DFL-Minnetonka, said. “And if the opposition is as strong as they (opponents) say it is, they’ll never have a union,” he said.

One issue of great importance to business, a proposed minimum wage increase, was set aside by legislative leaders.

House Democrats proposed increasing the state minimum wage about $2 higher than Senate Democrats did.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, expects lawmakers to take up the minimum wage next session.

He spoke of simply running out time this session.

Thissen called the delay a “shame.”

Another issue scheduled to resurface when lawmakers return to the State Capitol on Feb. 25 — at least in the mind of Bakk — is the sales-tax expansion contained in the tax bill.

“Sales-tax reform is really hard,” Bakk said, appearing with Dayton, Thissen, and other legislative at the State Capitol on Tuesday (May 21) morning.

Lawmakers will continue to explore the provision extending the state sales tax to warehousing, Bakk said. They’ll learn more about the extension, which does not go into effect until April, 2014, over upcoming months, he said.

The tax bill contains “glitches,” Bakk said. Specifically, he pointed to the expansion of the state sales tax to maintenance work on farm machinery.

“We got one little clinker in there,” he said.

But Democratic leaders, rather than shying away from the tax bill, embrace it.

Dayton called the $1 billion tax increase on the wealthy, upper two percent of tax filers a “progressive tax increase.” He heralded the $2 billion in tax increases as bolstering education, providing property tax relief and providing other boosts to the middle class.

“It’s what government should be doing,” Dayton said.

But Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, lead Republican on the House Tax Committee, appraised things differently.

“This session was a disaster for the taxpayers of Minnesota,” he said.

Davids styled the new fourth-tier income tax rate as “punishing success.”

Even smokers got hit with new taxes, Davids said.

But Rep. Sandra Masin, DFL-Eagan, looks at the $485 million in new spending in E-12 education and $250 million in higher education as meeting needs.

“I think we exceeded expectations in investments in education. In my area, that’s (education funding) really, really important,” she said.

One initiative Democrats look to developing over upcoming months is transportation.

Dayton and other Democrats speak of fostering public dialogue over the future of transportation, and making clear the benefits the public can expect if agreeable to transportation tax increases.

Transportation-funding advocates express frustration.

“Without new funding from the Legislature, hundreds of miles of critical road, bridge and transit projects will not be built, upgraded, or expanded,” said Mike Sheehan, co-chair of Progress in Motion, in a press release.

In general, Democrats and Republicans treated each other congenially this past session.

“It’s tough to be in the minority,” Daudt said.

“All in all, I think we ended here on a respectful note. And I think that’s important,” he said.

As Daudt stood on the House floor after close of session, Democrats walked by and shook hands.

Tim Budig can be reached at tim.budig@ecm-inc.com

Chisago County Master Gardener

Heart rot can cause decay in both heartwood and sapwood.

Sapwood is living cells that move the sap through the tree, store extra energy, close off wounds, and actively fight invading microorganisms.  In all trees, sapwood is in the outermost rings. Some trees, like maple, birch, beech and poplar, form only sapwood.

Other trees form heartwood at the core of their trunk.  Heartwood is dead cells that serve primarily to add structural support to the tree, but they also contain a number of toxic chemicals that protect the heartwood from wood decay fungi.

How well these chemicals protect the heartwood varies from tree to tree. Cedar and redwood trees are so effective at defending against wood-rotting fungi that their lumber is highly valued.

You may have seen bracket fungus growing on rotting logs, dead trees, or living trees in damp woodlands. Many different fungi can cause heart rot. The interesting fungal structures that emerge in wet weather are spore-producing structures known as basidiocarps.  If they are on a live tree, it indicates rot within the tree.

Heart rot fungi cannot infect a tree through intact bark.  Instead, there must be a wound or opening in the bark, perhaps from a lawn mower, weed whip, fire scars, deer rubbing, rodent chewing, frost crack, broken branch or other injury.

Some heart rot fungi can also enter a tree through an old branch stub or through the tree’s roots.

Once inside the tree, the fungi use a variety of enzymes and other chemicals to break down the wood for food.

Trees often survive many years with heart rot. Because the tree can continue to grow, with no symptoms of disease or decline in the canopy, the problem can go unnoticed.  The decay caused by many heart rot fungi progresses very slowly, often at a rate of about three inches a year.

A tree with signs of heart rot does not need to be removed immediately, but should be examined to determine how structurally sound it is.  Give special attention to affected trees near people, or near property that could be damaged by falling branches or trees.

Through a program funded by the federal AmeriCorps program, she spends 20 minutes per day, one-on-one, with each child who qualifies.

Three times a year, students in kindergarten through third grade are tested to see if they need tutoring.

Each grade has a benchmark score, which changes for fall, winter, and spring testings. About 35 percent of students qualify.

Those who do receive reading interventions. Kindergarten students work on letter names and sounds, first graders on blending sounds to make words, second and third graders on comprehension.

Students in the program are assessed weekly to monitor their progress. When tests show their reading has improved to a certain level, they leave the program.

Usually, Devine said, this takes more than six weeks. And during that time, the students gain more than just a reading tutor.

“There are no distractions in this room,” Devine said. “I’m probably the first one in the school to hear their dog died, or they’re not feeling well. They learn to trust me.”

Devine said the one-on-one time students get in her room helps build their confidence. “Shy kids come in, and I watch their confidence grow.”

Scandia Elementary has had the Reading Corps program for three years, Devine said. Principal Julie Greiman applies for the grant. Reading Corps recruits the tutors and trains them. Then the tutors interview with the school, and the school chooses a tutor.

Devine’s background includes a degree in early childhood development and experience as a preschool teacher. She is paid a stipend every two weeks.

She also serves as the PTO’s volunteer coordinator, organizing the parents who donate their time to help in the classroom and to work at the Wild Walk, Carnival, Art & Academic Fair and Fun Run.

Studies show one in five third graders are not reading at grade level. The research-based Minnesota Reading Corps initiative, designed to help every Minnesota child become a successful reader by the end of third grade, has been highly successful. Of third-graders who complete the Minnesota Reading Corps program, 80 percent pass the statewide reading exam. This matches Minnesota’s overall pass rate.

Research shows that when students get off to a poor start academically, they rarely catch up. The 2011 Hernandez study, for example, noted that students who do not read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely than proficient readers to drop out of high school.

Literacy research suggests that 95 percent of all children have the capacity to learn to read proficiently if effective interventions are provided. Anyone interested in making a difference in the lives of struggling students is urged to consider becoming a tutor. To learn more, visit www.MinnesotaReadingCorps.org or contact 866-859-2825.

Minnesota Math Corps is also available to help students struggling with arithmetic, but schools must pay for this program.

A ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 29, with a dessert reception at 6:30 p.m. and a short program at 7, at the LAYSB office, 244 N. Lake St. in Forest Lake.

All are encouraged to attend to honor Gulden for her commitment to youth in the community.

“I am so honored that you chose me,” Gulden said, “but I would not be receiving this award—or be who I am today—if not for the Forest Lake administrative staff, the kindness they have shown along with the opportunities they have given me.”

Haleigh is the daughter of Anne and Tim Gulden.

School Board member Gail Theisen nominated Gulden to recognize her dedication to the district’s diversity committee and A-Ok/Olweus Anti-Bullying Group.

As the co-founder of the A-OK, Gulden was involved with creating the logo and developing activities to promote a healthy, safe atmosphere at the school.

“I thank her for her efforts in combating bullying and bringing awareness to our school and community,” Theisen said.

Gulden also participates in SADD, Link, Open Minds Club, Rangers Care and school fundraisers. She is president of Rotary Interact Club, social chair of the student council and 2012 homecoming queen.

Outside of school, Gulden is an experienced nanny, elementary school tutor and Special Olympics assistant track coach. She volunteers at a nursing home and at church, and in her spare time works as a receptionist at Whitaker Buick GMC in Forest Lake.

In the fall she will attend Hamline University in St. Paul, focusing on a career where she works with people, perhaps education or nonprofit management. “I love spending time with people and listening to their stories and perspectives of life,” Gulden said.

LAYSB has given the “On Behalf of Youth” award to one adult and one youth every year since 2000.

To be eligible, the nominee must live or work in LAYSB’s primary service area (ISD 831 and all of Chisago County), be a positive role model for youth, help to break down barriers between youth and adults and provide enthusiastic leadership to youth above and beyond job or volunteer duties.

Nominees for the youth award must be in grades 9-12.

The change applies to all branches, outreach stops and link sites of the East Central Regional Library, serving Aitkin, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, and Pine Counties in east central Minnesota.

In addition to a longer loan period, the maximum number of eBooks and eAudios will increase from three to six.

Items will remain on hold for only seven calendar days, down from the current 10 days.

Reference items can now be checked out for three calendar days.

Children experience an old-fashioned way to wash clothes at last year’s “Immigrant for a Day” celebration at Gammelgården Museum in Scandia.

Get your trunk and pack your metal farm tools (no wooden handles please—you can make new ones when you get to Amerika).

In Scandia, the first Swedish settlement in Minnesota, Gammelgården Museum preserves the story of coming to the New World. Visitors can experience daily life on the Old (Gammel) Small Farm (Gården) as the first Swedish immigrants did over 140 years ago.

This Sunday afternoon, learn what it was like to live in a log home that your family built, carry water, shell corn, and make butter. “Immigrant for Day,” a free event for all ages, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 26. Parking is also free.

The Immigrant Hus and other historic buildings will be open. Gammelgården’s Junior Guides will lead guests in several “immigrant-inspired” activities throughout the afternoon.  To make the day especially fun, guests are invited to join the Guides in dressing in pioneer costume.

It will be a busy afternoon, with school starting in the old church (Gammelkyrkan) and laundry to do at the farm house.

The Scandia Butik gift shop will be open in the Welcome House (Välkommen Hus), and local artists will present their paintings and photographs of local barns and farm life upstairs in the Passage Room. (If you can’t come Sunday, you can still see the Barn Anew exhibit through August.)

Gammelgården Museum is located in downtown Scandia, south of TH-97 at 20880 Olinda Tr.

For more information visit www.gammelgardenmuseum.org or call 651-433-5053. Learn about the artifacts on ookl.net.

The Democratic-led Legislature voted to tax the rich and smokers and to close corporate loopholes in raising about $2 billion in new taxes in its omnibus tax bill.

The Senate took its vote shortly before the Legislature adjourned until next year.

The tax bill closes the $627 million state budget deficit, fuels education funding and provides tax relief for homeowners and renters.

It creates a fourth-tier income tax rate at 9.85 percent — a change snagging about $1 billion — applicable to joint married filers earning more than $250,000 in taxable income, single-filers with taxable income of more than $150,000.

The income tax increase embraces the top two percent of taxpayers.

Republicans are not pleased.

“Thank goodness the increase in the candy tax and snack tax went away,” Rep. Nick Zerwas, R-Elk River, quipped.

“This bill hurts every Minnesotan,” he said.

The tax on a pack of cigarettes is increased by $1.60 per pack under the tax bill.

The increase is about more than raising money, Democrats argue.

House Tax Committee Chairwoman Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, presents her tax bill to the House. (Photo by T.W. Budig)

“I view it as a public health imperative,” House Tax Committee Chairwoman Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, said.

Senate Tax Committee Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, a former smoker, said he had never voted for a cigarette tax increase before.

“This is one of the hardest issues for me,” he said.

But Skoe found the health argument compelling.

All told, changes to tobacco taxes raise $430 million.

In addition to closing perceived corporate loopholes — a closure capturing $400 million — a 10 percent gift tax is imposed.

For the gift tax, a lifetime credit of $100,000 is provided, and a taxpayer can give up to $13,000 a year without counting towards their $1 million exemption.

The tax bill does not include the sweeping sales tax reforms originally proposed by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, but it does expand the sales tax to non-consumer warehousing and storage, repair and maintenance of electronic equipment and commercial and industrial machinery,

The storage of boats, cars, and recreational vehicles not eligible to be deducted as business expenses are exempt from the warehouse sales tax expansion.

Further, the storage of farm products and refrigerated storage are also exempt.

But the expansion of the sales tax to the repair and maintenance of industrial machinery includes farm machinery.

And the warehousing provision, which will go into effect in 2014, applies to some farm storage.

The tax bill contains an Internet “Amazon” online sale tax provision for out-of-state retailers with affiliates in Minnesota selling on their behalf.

That captures $10 million.

In terms of tax relief, the bill exempts cities and counties from paying the sales tax for most purchases, a $172 million savings to local government.

Under the bill, some 300,000 homeowners will see their property tax refunds increase, and another 100,000 additional homeowners will receive a refund, Democrats say.

One provision Republicans focused on during floor debate dealt with the Vikings stadium.

A one-time flush of money into the stadium reserve account is achieved through a cigarette tax on floor stock. To further stabilize the state stadium funding, left shaky by feeble electronic pull-tab revenues, corporate tax-loophole-closur dollars could be channeled towards paying off the stadium.

Some Republicans were flabbergasted.

“Can you smoke in the new stadium?” Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, asked Lenczewski.

“Because smokers are going to be paying for it,” he said. The tax bill contains no alcohol tax increases.

A Mayo Destination Medical Center provision is included in the tax bill.

It anticipates the state investing a maximum of $327 million over 27 years after the clinic, City of Rochester, and Olmstead County make sufficient investments.

A Rochester Democrat choked up on the House floor while thanking Lenczewski for the language.

The tax bill extends Mall of America TIF districts to spur Phase Two mall expansion.

It provides a sales tax exemption for the proposed Baxter Biopharmaceutical facility in Brooklyn Park.

About 54,400 Minnesota resident tax returns, or about 2.1 percent of filers, will fall under the fourth-tier income tax rate.

Senate Tax Committee Chairman Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, talks to a Senate colleague on the Senate floor. (Photo by T.W. Budig)

Ninety-eight percent of Minnesota taxpayers will see no income tax increase, according to the governor’s office.

A married couple with a taxable income of $617,000 would pay about $8,400 more in taxes under the fourth tier.

A single filer with a taxable income of $428,000, under the fourth tier, would pay an additional $5,500.

Minnesota’s 9.85 percent tax rate would be fifth highest in the country.

Republicans were critical of the bill not only for what was in it, but what wasn’t.

“What’s unfortunate, we did not make our veterans a priority in the bill,” Rep. Anna Wills, R-Apple Valley, said.

Wills had pursued a veterans-hiring tax credit.

“It’s not necessary, and not needed,” Rep. Joe McDonald, R-Delano, said of the tax increases.

The tax bill passed the House on a party line 71-58 vote; it passed the Senate on a 36-30 vote.

Democratic senators Terri Bonoff of Minnetonka, Melisa Franzen of Edina, and Susan Kent of Woodbury voted with Republicans.

Debate in the Senate also had Republicans standing on the floor condemning the tax bill.

“These taxes are really about envy,” Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, said of the tax-the-rich approach.

“This bill will make us a high-tax island,” Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen, said.

Sen. Dan Hall, R-Burnsville, described the Democratic taxing philosophy as predatory.

“If they got a need — let’s tax them!” Hall said.

Sen. Sean Nienow, R-Cambridge, called the tobacco-tax increase as Democrats taking “politically correct” money.

Tim Budig can be reached at tim.budig@ecm-inc.com