Star Tribune
Is Minneapolis woman entitled to proceeds from sale of her condo for back taxes?
The nation’s highest court Wednesday considered the case of an elderly Minneapolis woman whose condo was seized and sold by Hennepin County for unpaid taxes — and whether she’s entitled to any money from that sale.
Minnesota is among 20 states that allow the government to sell a property forfeited because of unpaid taxes and keep all the proceeds, even if it’s more than what was owed.
That’s what happened to Geraldine Tyler in 2015, when she owed $15,000 in back taxes, interests and fees on her Minneapolis condo dating back at least five years.
Hennepin County sold the condo for $40,000. Tyler, now 94, has the backing of a national legal group that not only wants her to get the extra $25,000, but seeks to change the way such government seizures work. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case.
In discussions that featured historical detours from the feudal laws of the 1200s to the Magna Carta to the founding of America, a trio of lawyers and the justices tussled over the fairness and legality of the issue, which is related to at least two other cases before the court.
Tyler bought her condo in 1999. In 2010, she moved into an apartment and stopped paying taxes on her condo, prompting the county to try to collect the taxes and ultimately seize it.
According to the county, Tyler walked away from the condo, telling them she had no interest in keeping it, and she never tried to sell it. She could have sold the place and used that money to pay her taxes, refinanced her mortgage or worked out a payment plan, the county’s lawyer argued.
Through her attorney, Tyler declined to comment.
Tyler’s attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation Senior Attorney Christina Martin, argued that none of that matters because the government only has a right to the money she owed to them. Other types of property, such as seized cars or boats, aren’t handled that way, Martin argued, and by keeping the extra money, Hennepin County violated constitutional protections against uncompensated takings and excessive fines.
An attorney representing the county pro bono, former acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal, argued that practices like Minnesota’s have existed since the nation was founded, and it’s up to each state how to handle real estate forfeitures.
A ruling in favor of Tyler could have ramifications for the states that handle real estate forfeitures like Minnesota, although several justices wondered aloud if there were ways they could rule that might not have such sweeping effects.
Lower courts sided with the county before the justices agreed to step in.
Minnesota and a handful of states and government associations are backing the county, warning that a Supreme Court ruling could tie the hands of local governments that rely on property taxes.
But the bulk of support in court filings is with Tyler, including AARP, business groups, real estate interests and other people who have gone through experiences similar to hers.
A Massachusetts man described his ongoing fight with authorities over a tax bill of $900 on a property he says is worth at least $330,000 in a beach town on Cape Cod Bay. In a filing from New York, property tax attorney David Wilkes and legal services groups wrote that New York’s rules “excessively takes far more than what is due to the government and go well beyond an appropriate deterrent to those homeowners who would ignore a tax delinquency.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back with StarTribune.com for updates.
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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