Minnesota New Home Construction

The builder broke ground on our house in March/April 2007. It complete and purchased by us in September 2007. Our mortgage broker told us that we wouldn't be assessed for the full amount until 2009 (at that time, we would be paying for the year of 2008, throughout which the house was complete). However, we've just received the full assessment for 2007 (to be paid in May and October 2008), but the house wasn't even completely built until September. Our mortgage broker is saying we should be assessed only for partial-lot taxes for 2007, but we've been assessed too early. She suggested I contact our county assessor's office and I have, just waiting a day or two for an answer. Is it possible they've made a mistake? I can't imagine how it couldn't be... anyone with any expertise in the area, please confirm! FYI, I live in Minnesota. Thanks!
The builder broke ground on our house in March/April 2007. It complete and purchased by us in September 2007. Our mortgage broker told us that we wouldn't be assessed for the full amount until 2009 (at that time, we would be paying for the year of 2008, throughout which the house was complete). However, we've just received the full assessment for 2007 (to be paid in May and October 2008), but the house wasn't even completely built until September. Our mortgage broker is saying we should be assessed only for partial-lot taxes for 2007, but we've been assessed too early. She suggested I contact our county assessor's office and I have, just waiting a day or two for an answer. Is it possible they've made a mistake? I can't imagine how it couldn't be... anyone with any expertise in the area, please confirm! FYI, I live in Minnesota. Thanks! TO CLARIFY: We did NOT purchase this home until September 2007; it was part of a townhome development that began (broke ground) in March of 2007.

If they broke ground in March or April, then that means that you already owned the property then, and probably before that. So, in all honesty, you are being charged correctly for the property because it was yours for almost the entire 2007 year. Now if they are assessing you for improved property for the whole year, that may be up for appeal. But the property value itself, and your ownership of it, is indisputable.
That may be the only grounds for appeal that you have: how much value are they placing on it and when did the value change?; was it incremental or all at once?

Good Luck!!!

Edit: Sorry that I missed the fact that you actually bought the house and property in September. In that case, then you only owe for 1/4 year of taxes. Definitely appeal this with your local property taxing authority!

2008-04-03 12:17:16 by Jennifer A

This is a new home construction time-lapse video by Soumis Construction, Inc. We are a fully licensed & insured general contractor serving ...

I'm planning to eventually plant a garden at my new home. The house is still in construction and I'm thinking I should at least start landscaping with trees right away in the spring so they can get a head start. I'm in northern Minnesota and hoping someone can give me suggestions for hardy types of trees or flowering trees to plant. Any ideas are welcome.
I'm in Zone 4a. I'm considering Nanking Cherry and hoping butterfly bushes will also thrive here.

I live in Minnesota, too, and I love planting trees. Depending on your locale in MN you are either in zone 4 or 4a, so if you look in gardening catalogs you can choose anything zone 4 or less (zone 3 is even colder, and so on). Haralson is a great tree for MN - an apple tree that is somewhat self-fruitful. Bali Cherry is also great, as is Nanking Cherry - both fruit trees, although Nanking Cherry is more shrubby. Mock orange has a lovely scent and does well in MN (a shrub). Decide how big you want your adult tree to be, since many varieties are available on dwarfing rootstock if the adult tree would be too much for your lot.
I love buying bare root trees from catalogs, since they are so inexpensive and I've never had one die on me. I've even abused one (left it unplanted, let it dry out) and it still did fine. (Don't repeat my experiment - decide your location for your tree, dig the hole and prepare the soil & compost you'll use to fill it before you bring the tree home/before it is delivered. That way you can take it right to the hole and plant it, giving it the best possible start.) Dogwoods and crabapples give nice displays of flowers in the spring, and are also well suited to our climate. Congratulations on having such a fun project ahead of you!

2008-03-05 08:39:27 by Savage

Price: $32.00

Thats right !!! Our home was severly damaged in a flood 4 years ago and it WAS declared a disaster area. Fema gave us $800 for a footer and never went under the house. Then they said it qualified to be bought out and after 4 years of government runarounds and the roof collapsing and FEMA not coming up with any more money we had to sell it and take a $40,000 loss !!! We never got a credit card like Katrina victims or any other assistance. We had to evacuate the premises immediately on our dime with no help from the government and relocate. We have spent nearly $25,000 bucks in rent waiting on them to say we don't have the money yet to buy your 49,000 dollar home !!! A construction company had been really pestering us to buy it and we got fed up and sold it. Now we are looking at foreclosures and bank repo's and home auction websites, but people with more money than us keep outbidding us on homes that we see and like !!! GOOD LUCK TO NEW ORLEANS AND MINNESOTA !!! How do we get help ???

Live and Learn, that's the name of the game !!
Good Luck !!
Best Wishes !!

2007-09-25 20:51:18 by iamjimstone@sbcglobal.net

Price: $29.95

Obama's young backers twist parents' arms
By yankinulster - Apr 8th, 2008 at 5:31 am EDT
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Great article in today's New York Times: "Obama's young backers twist parents' arms". I'm still working on my mom, who was offended by Barack's comparison of his wife with Jacqueline Kennedy. Both mom and dad (and everyone else I talk to) agree Hillary Clinton's bid is finished. Yet my family focus group would plump for McCain, so there's a lot at stake!



Obama's Young Backers Twist Parents' Arms


By JAN HOFFMAN
The daily phone calls. The midnight e-mail. And, when college lets out, those dinner table declamations? Oh, please.

Senator Barack Obama’s devotees just won’t give their parents a break.

As the race for the Democratic presidential nomination continues, youthful volunteers for each candidate have been campaigning with bright-eyed brio, not only door-to-door but also at home. But the young supporters of Mr. Obama, who has captured a majority of under-30 primary voters, seem to be leading in the pestering sweepstakes. They send their parents the latest Obama YouTube videos, blog exhortations and “Tell Your Mama/Vote for Obama!” bumper stickers.

Megan Simpson, a Penn State senior, had not been able to budge her father, a Republican. But the day before the deadline for registering for the coming Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, she handed him the forms and threw in a deal-sweetener as well. “I said, ‘Dad, if you change your party affiliation in time to vote for Obama,’ ” recalled Ms. Simpson, 22, an Obama campus volunteer, “ ‘I will get you the paperwork the day after the primary if you want to switch back to being a Republican.’ ”

Thus did Ralph E. Simpson Jr., 50, construction company owner, become a newly minted Democrat. “I probably will switch my affiliation back,” Mr. Simpson said, “but I haven’t decided who I will vote for in the general election. If Meg keeps working on me, who knows?”

No poll has counted Obama supporters who made their choice at the urging of their children. But combined exit polls for all the primaries so far (excluding Florida and Michigan) show that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has edged out Mr. Obama, 50 percent to 46 percent, among voters ages 45 to 64 — those who are old enough, and then some, to be the parents of Mr. Obama’s young supporters.

But even politicians are mentioning the persuasiveness of their children, either in earnest or as political cover, as a factor in their Obama endorsements.

That list of Democrats includes Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

While politicians inevitably invoke children and the future, rarely have the political preferences of children themselves carried much weight with their elders. On the contrary: when baby boomer parents were the age their children are now, the ideological and social gap between generations was more pronounced. Parents were, by definition, authoritarian. Their children were, by definition, anti-.

But the sharp distinctions between generations have eroded. Parents now are exponentially more entwined with their offspring, inclined to place their children’s emotional well-being ahead of their own. Even when students live away at college, many parents call them and send text messages every day.

The Obama campaign was well positioned to capitalize on this veritable seamlessness. From the outset, Mr. Obama eagerly sought out young voters with his Internet operation and a widespread, efficient campus network. Those efforts are paying off: in all Democratic primaries to date (excluding Florida and Michigan), about 6 in 10 voters under age 30 have supported him, according to exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky.

For some waffling primary voters, the relentless push by their children was good enough reason to capitulate. Eager to encourage their offspring’s latest enthusiasm, they have been willing to toss up their hands and vote for Mr. Obama, if only to impress their children.

“Our kids are probably more precious to us than any previous generation of parents,” said Dan Kindlon, a Harvard child psychologist. “We have fewer of them, we’re relativists, and we’re more swayed by them. A lot of parents are a little afraid of their kids.”

For many parents, this campaign season also feels like a fond flashback: in their children’s unvarnished idealism, many see a resurrection of their own youthful political passions.

“It’s something you can brag to your friends about,” said Professor Kindlon, who writes about child-rearing and adolescents. “ ‘My kid is involved in politics.’ ”

Donna Wall, 50, an elementary school teacher from Roanoke Rapids, N.C., had been a supporter of Mrs. Clinton. But her son, Drew, 21, a college student and Obama volunteer, would not let up until his mother switched allegiances for the coming primary.

“I’m glad they’re interested in something other than their own self-interest and partying,” Mrs. Wall said.

Curtis Gans, a staff director of Eugene J. McCarthy’s 1968 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed out that the youthful enthusiasm in this primary did resemble that of 40 years ago. But he said that while Mr. McCarthy’s temporary success was largely due to the support of college students and middle-class mothers, they had been aroused more by the issue of the Vietnam War than by the candidate’s charisma.

“People are enthused by the fact that young people are engaged and excited again,” said Mr. Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University. “They think that’s really healthy, and they’d like to sustain it. But at this point, it is temporary and it is about Obama.”

There’s no telling whether these youthful importunings on Mr. Obama’s behalf will tip the balance for the nomination, or follow him into the general election should he be nominated. Certainly Mrs. Clinton is not without her own fresh-faced vanguard.

Rachel Mattson, 18, a freshman at Wellesley, called her mother, Michelle, in Memphis daily, pressing her to vote for Mrs. Clinton in the Tennessee primary.

“I don’t see a huge difference between the two candidates,” said Michelle Mattson, 45. “But Rachel never let it go. You’ll be sitting at the dinner table for an hour going over this stuff! Her enthusiasm and what it means to her inspired me.” She voted for Mrs. Clinton.

While Mrs. Clinton has a national network of student volunteers, Mr. Obama’s network is far more extensive. Web sites like Kids for Obama and YrMomma4Obama urge youngsters to talk up the candidate to their parents.

The two adult sons of Governor Doyle, 62, both black and both adopted, spoke to him with fervor about Mr. Obama’s vision of a multiracial country. Then Mr. Doyle’s young grandson piled on.

“He’s a complete Barackomaniac,” Mr. Doyle said in a phone interview. “When I asked him why, he said, ‘I think he’s really going to work hard for us.’ I thought, that’s it through the eyes of a 7-year-old. ‘He’ll work hard,’ and ‘for us.’ ”

The stealth campaigning was more persistent in the home of Senator Casey, 47. Mr. Casey, who was going to remain neutral, noticed how excited his four daughters, ages 11 to 19, were about Mr. Obama. The autographed Obama posters on the bedroom walls. The self-imposed hush in the living room when Mr. Obama would give a televised speech.

His daughter Julia, 13, would say, “Dad, when are you going to endorse Obama?” Mr. Casey recalled in a phone interview. “My response was, ‘I’m thinking about a lot of things, Julia.’ And she’d laugh and say, ‘Dad, answer my question.’ ”

Not all parents have been overjoyed to see their children donate countless unpaid hours to Mr. Obama. Bader ElShareif, 52, who immigrated from Gaza 31 years ago, was appalled that his daughter Ami, 20, a student at the University of Wisconsin, worked almost seven days a week last summer in Chicago for the candidate. Mr. ElShareif, who was leaning toward Senator John McCain, was annoyed that she did not have a salaried job to defray college expenses.

“I’d be exhausted, but I’d still want to debate with him,” Ms. ElShareif said. “Then he’d start calling me up and saying, ‘Hey, did you hear this about Obama? So and so endorsed him!’ ”

In the Illinois primary, Mr. ElShareif voted for Mr. Obama. His daughter, thrilled, sent him an Obama sign, which he displays in his convenience store near the University of Chicago.

“The neighbors and the students come in now and say, ‘We like your sign,’ ” Mr. ElShareif said. “Maybe these young people know something we don’t.”

Dalia Sussman contributed reporting.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community /post/yankinulster/gGBrH7
Wolf and other non readers of the article. The source of the article is Obama's Campaign. If you click the link it goes right through. Obama is PROUD of bamboozling the system--are you going to continue to be bamboozled?

Does this scare you? Republicans registering as Obama democrats with the intention to unseat Clinton?
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It's been very disturbing. Ever since January.

The evidence is mounting: the BIG BUSINESS-owned media's nonstop 24/7 Obama coverage, Obama's unusually deep pockets outspending Hillary 3-to-1 in each state, all of these Democratic caucuses he's strangely won in predominately Republican states - states that ALWAYS vote for Republicans in every Presidential election no matter what....

Yep - I think "the fix" is definitely in...

2008-04-23 01:06:14 by Ja W

First they bring illegals here and then make them work as modern day slaves.What should the Government do to these people for their crimes?
Should there be stiffer punishments for people like this, coyotes and human smugglers?
Are people like this worse than coyotes, because these people did not know what was ahead of them and lied to so they would come here?
I am anti-illegal but I do not agree with this!

Prosecutors charged 12 people in alleged scheme to employ illegal immigrants in 14 states
By Associated Press
3:10 PM PDT, May 27, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Twelve people — eight of them from Uzbekistan — are accused in a federal indictment of luring illegal immigrants to the U.S. to work as "modern-day slaves" in 14 states.

Prosecutors announced Wednesday that a federal grand jury in Kansas City issued a 45-count indictment May 6 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act that included charges of labor racketeering, forced labor trafficking and immigration violations.


Matt Whitworth, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, said Wednesday that the defendants used false information to obtain fake work visas for the foreign workers, who were then threatened with deportation while living in substandard apartments and working for inadequate pay.

The indictment says the conspiracy involved fraudulent labor leasing contracts in Missouri, Kansas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, South Carolina and Wyoming.

Eight of the 12 defendants were arrested Tuesday, when the indictment was unsealed. They made their first court appearances in the states where they were arrested and are being held in federal custody until they are brought to Kansas City, said Don Ledford, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.


The scheme ensnared hundreds of illegal immigrants who worked at hotels, construction sites, and in other businesses, many of them in the Kansas City area and in the southwest Missouri resort town of Branson, Whitworth said.

"The indictment alleges that this criminal enterprise lured victims to the United States under the guise of legitimate jobs and a better life, only to treat them as modern-day slaves under the threat of deportation," said James Gibbons, acting special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement based in Chicago.

The employees allegedly were required to pay exorbitant rent to live in barely furnished apartments that "ensured that the workers did not make enough to repay their debt, purchase a plane ticket home or pay their own living expenses while in the United States," according to Whitworth.

The workers also allegedly had to pay for transportation to their jobs, uniform fees and other fees that, combined with low pay or lack of work, often left them with paychecks that had negative earnings, prosecutors said. They were threatened with physical harm, deportation or other legal problems if they did not comply. The scheme also controlled the workers by not allowing them to receive mail, prosecutors said.

The companies indicted were Kansas City labor leasing company Giant Labor Solutions; Crystal Management, Inc., headquartered in Mission, Kan.; and Five Star Cleaning, headquartered in Overland Park, Kan.

Court records did not list lawyers for any of the defendants, and Ledford said the U.S. attorney's office was not sure if any of them had hired lawyers.

A telephone mailbox at a number of Giant Labor Solutions was full and could not accept messages Wednesday. No phone listings were found for Crystal Management or Five Star Cleaning. Ledford said it's likely the two companies were run out of private homes and are no longer in existence.
sorry: Should there be plenty more arrests?
sorry: Should there be plenty more arrests?
Twelve people in fourteen states, does that not tell you that this thing is much larger than they are saying?
Should there not be plenty of other arrests?
grease - I will take that blame, they are not supposed to be coming here, these people who hire coyotes and smugglers know exactly what they are up against, when people are brought here under false pretense it is different. None should be able to make any person work as a slave.

Forced Labor!

2009-05-29 06:21:27 by Kize