Mr. Ed Kuhlman stopped by my morning office at GBM on Friday to show me a newspaper called the National Public Opinion that he found in a recent batch of collectibles he’d purchased. This edition was Volume 1, No. 4, published on July 16, 1927. In true yellow journalism fashion, the headlines scream:
FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA, IS 48 PER CENT TAX-EXEMPT!
NORTHFIELD, MINNESOTA, HALF TAXED—HALF FREE
Faribault, Minnesota, is tied for first place with Northfield, in matter of tax exemptions
The Limit to Tax Exemptions in Northfield, Minnesota is the Sky With the Roof Knocked off
Carleton College seems to run the city.
We laughed because Carleton was in the news this past week for acquiring a commercial property downtown. The Nfld Patch article, Carleton College Purchases Building at 200 Division St., includes an email by Carleton’s VP Fred Rogers. Excerpt:
We believe this is a win for Carleton and a win for Northfield’s downtown. The College will effectively acquire new space in central campus, much cheaper than we could construct it. The office and professional uses of this important downtown building will be reinforced and increased. We intend to honor all existing leases and to leave the building on the tax roll at this time.
If Carleton does take the building off the tax roll, I predict the publisher of the National Public Opinion will turn over in his grave and come back to life as an angry blogger.
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