In the heart of the Iron Range, property owners may be punished with a nearly 10% increase on property taxes due to the actions of the county commissioners. Counties across the state are set to increase property taxes through levies by 8.1% and they must be decided by Dec. 29th. According to the Grand Rapids Herald-Review, 44 out of 70 MN counties have partially approved the tax hikes.

At a September 23rd Itasca County Commissioners meeting, a vote was held on the tax increase and 3 out of the 5 Commissioners supported the measure. Below you will see Commissioners John Johnson, Cory Smith, and Casey Venema support the tax hike while Commissioners Terry Snyder and Larry Hopkins voted no:

The final vote for this measure will take place on Tuesday, December 2nd at the Itasca County Courthouse in a Truth-in-Taxation meeting open to the public.

While the increased spending will be directed to largely uncontroversial roads/bridges projects, the increase in taxes is extremely controversial. The government loves to tell regular citizens to tighten up their budgets but never want to do it themselves! 

With rising inflation, high costs on goods, and taxes already too high, it is a slap in the face to the citizens of Itasca to raise their property taxes by such an extraordinary amount! Itasca is home to 870 lakes which likely contributes to the property taxes that are already too high in the county.

Owning property and self-sufficiency should be rewarded, not discouraged! Rural counties like Itasca should not be penalizing property owners as many struggle to make ends meet. If Itasca Commissioners want to prioritize these projects, they could have chosen NOT to give themselves raises as they did in 2024 along with raises for the county’s Sheriff, Auditor, and Recorder.

Action 4 Liberty has been involved in issues surrounding the Itasca County Commissioners after they nominated a greedy, carpetbagging, Keith Ellison puppet, James Austad, as their new County Attorney. 

A4L sounded the alarm, notified the grassroots, and joined the citizens speaking truth in the Commissioner meeting. The day following that meeting, Austad withdrew his nomination! This proves the grassroots can defeat the corrupt system in Itasca and NOW the citizens must do it again!

During the County Attorney battle, Commissioner Cory Smith flipped and opposed Austad’s nomination after previously supporting it. Smith credited the massive citizen input for his reversal, arguing that he could not do it after seeing how constituents reacted. Cory Smith could be the savior Itasca taxpayers need by becoming the THIRD and FINAL vote needed to block the massive tax hike!

Local sources tell A4L that Smith used to work for roads and bridges projects, highlighting that his interests may not only be serving the taxpayers' desires. The issue for Smith is that Itasca citizens can look no further than his own words: He RAN on lowering property taxes! If he does not self-correct by the December 2nd meeting, he will be a total hypocrite. See how he pushed for lower taxes when campaigning below:

Itasca citizens can fight HIGH TAXES by contacting their Commissioner and attending final vote on the levy at the Tuesday, December 2nd meeting at 6:00PM at the Itasca County Courthouse (123 NE 4th St., Grand Rapids, MN, 55744). See Commissioner’s contact information below:

District 1: Cory Smith 218-812-9832 [email protected]

District 2: Terry Snyder 218-360-5905 [email protected]

District 3: John Johnson 218-259-3529 [email protected]

District 4: Larry Hopkins 218-603-0880 [email protected]

District 5: Casey Venema 218-812-9830 [email protected]

Itasca residents can see which Commissioner represents them with the following map:

Action 4 Liberty encourages Patriots across the state to be involved locally and to fight back against tax hikes. We believe that YOU should be able to keep more of YOUR money and should not have to pay even more to a parasitic government. The Itasca County Commissioners, notably John Johnson, Cory Smith, and Casey Venema, appear to have forgotten they work for taxpayers, not the other way around!