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RS-10. License Fees (C) (cont'd) <br />fees by requiring that revenues produced must be related to the cost <br />of issuing the license and regulating the licensed business. <br />It is inappropriate for the legislature to set maximum fees for <br />off -sale liquor, on -sale wine, bottle club, and Sunday liquor license <br />fees. Cities have acted responsibly in setting on -sale liquor license <br />fees. It makes no sense to grant them that power but deny them the <br />power to set fees for off -sale liquor, on -sale wine, bottle club and <br />Sunday liquor licenses. There is no evidence to show that lifting the <br />statutory cap would lead to unjustified fee increases. Some reasonable <br />increases in off -sale license fees could be expected since the <br />statutory maximum fee has not been increased in user 30 years. <br />RS-11. Railroad and Telephone Taxation (C) <br />The existing system for taxation of railroad operating property is not <br />consistent with the taxation of other commercial and industrial <br />properties. The present formula values railroad operating property at. <br />about 20 percent of the value which would be determined by a local <br />assessor using generally accepted assessing principles. The League <br />recommends that a new system of property taxation be established which <br />would tax both railroads and telephone companies operating in <br />Minnesota in a manner consistent with the taxation of the commercial <br />and industrial properties. ' <br />RS-12. Tax -Exempt Property (C) <br />One of the glaring inequities in the Minnesota tax system involves <br />local services .hat are provided free to tax-exempt property owned or <br />used by the state, counties, school districts, regional government <br />bodies, and by certain non -government organizations. It is widely <br />acknowledged twat such property directly benefit from government <br />services such as police and fire protection and street services <br />provided by cities. Since there is no legal basis for claiming <br />reimbursement for the costs of such services, they are borne by the <br />local taxoayprs. Furthermore, such property in concentrated in <br />certain cities, resulting in a heavy and disproportionate cost burden <br />upon those cities. �. <br />-60- <br />