Letter to the Editor: Budget Surplus Not Real

As a resident of Minnetonka and a lifelong financial professional, I was shocked by the audacity of incumbent Kirk Stensrud's campaign literature being distributed throughout the district. 

Stensrud claims he turned a budget deficit into a surplus. That "surplus" is not real.  It was created using accounting gimmicks and phony money. A large chunk of that money, $2.4 billion, was borrowed from our children's schools, with no clear plan to pay it back.  Stensrud advocated repaying schools by raiding state reserve funds, another shift trick that would hurt our state's already damaged credit rating caused by legislative gimmicks. Lucky for taxpayers, governor Dayton vetoed the latest scheme.

How else did Stensrud create his bogus surplus?  He voted to pay our state's bills by selling $640 million in bonds using tobacco money earmarked for health as collateral.  Selling bonds to pay off debt is something our state has never done.  It is simply another form of borrowing, pushing the debt off on future taxpayers. 

Stensrud calls these budget shifts and tricks "sustainable."  However, they are not only unsustainable ways to pay off debts, they are irresponsible and harmful to our state and its people.  And that is something I would urge Minnetonka voters to remember when they go to the polls this fall.

Judi Gleeman, Minnetonka