What is the MSRPO Coalition?
MSRPO, the Minnesota Seasonal Recreational Property Owners Coalition is the only advocacy group representing families who own cabins, lakeshore, hunting shacks and seasonal property in Minnesota at the State Capitol.
MSRPO is the only voice cabin owners have at the legislature, as few pieces of property are located in the districts in which cabin owners vote.
We work hard for fair and ecologically beneficial property tax policies with respect to seasonal property owners. We are the only voice cabin owners have at the legislature, as few pieces of property are located in the districts in which cabin owners vote.
MSRPO core tenets
As a group we believe that:
- Cabins should be taxed no differently than any other Homestead property. We believe a house is a house.
- Minnesota's current system creates destructive disincentives towards preservation of shoreline, forest restoration, and habitat protection. We must rewrite the code to assist owners who want to preserve and protect these vital resources.
- Cabins owners should receive all refunds, buy-downs and discounts applied to Homestead property.
- ALL stakeholders and that includes seasonal property owners are entitled to vote in local elections.
- Minnesota's property tax code is irreparably broken. The entire state and local fiscal system must be overhauled.
Why does the MSRPO Coalition exist?
MSRPO has roots that stretch way back to 1993 when a seasonal cabin owner on Lake Vermilion became alarmed at rapidly rising property tax bills, particularly because he used so few services (his property is located on an island.) The tax rate on shoreline was 2.25% of value then, more than twice the rate of a homestead.
That year, Executive Director Jeff Forester was doing research for a book about the history of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and discovered that Minnesota's ad valorum tax - a tax based on value at the "highest and best use" treated land only as a commodity, without recognizing it as the basis of our ecological health. As such the tax code drives the consumption of land rather than its protection, conservation and stewardship. He decided to get involved with MSRPO.
Today the tax rate on seasonal property is the same as on a house, 1%. The rural woodlands class offers a .65% rate on qualifying forest habitat properties, the Sustainable Forestry Incentive Act a return of $7 per acre for land with a stewardship plan.
Who runs the MSRPO Coalition?
The MSRPO Coalition is a non-profit organization with a lean and mean staff consisting of a part-time executive director and one part-time executive assistant. With the help of several activist board members we lead the charge to represent our members' interests at the State Capitol.
An affiliated, but separately-organized, political action committee (PAC) pursues MSRPO's goals in the political arena.
All MSRPO staff and board members welcome your thoughts and ideas so that they can serve you better.
Annual Meeting
Each fall MSRPO holds an annual meeting featuring guest speakers that range from subject matter experts to Political Candidates. These meetings provide an excellent source of information on a wide variety of issues.
How to contact MSRPO staff or board members
Got something on your mind you want to say to our staff or board members? Willing and able to contribute not just your money, but some of your time to MSRPO? Or just want to say "Thanks" to a small group looking out for your interests?
We're all ears. Send us an e-mail. Give us a call. Drop us a letter. The more we hear from our members the better able we are to serve them.
Here's how to reach the MSRPO staff. A complete list of staff and board members is online.
Executive Director
Jeff Forester
PO Box 50868
Mendota, MN 55150
Office: 952-854-1317
E-mail: jeff@msrpo.org
Executive Administrator
Judy Corrigan
PO Box 50868
Mendota, MN 55150
Office: 952-854-1317
E-mail: judy@msrpo.org