Former Minnesota State Representative Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea) has been a vocal critic of Governor Pawlenty’s plans to slash aid to local and county governments, saying it would affect communities’ ability to offer basic public services and force local governments to raise property taxes and other fees.

The reality is that if the cuts were to go into place that are being proposed, you would see dramatic property tax increases," Dorman said, adding that, unlike the state, cities only have two options — raising taxes or reducing services.

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"If we can get enough people to put pressure on now we may be able to do something different beforehand to avoid really bad outcomes."

Dorman says, small cities could go bankrupt, lose police officers, park and rec programs, and see a rise in property taxes.

On his radio show last week, Governor Pawlenty called the city leaders from across the state "complainers" and told them to "stop whining" and start tightening their belts, a line Dorman says is disingenuous.

It’s a little bit disingenuous when you say, you guys tighten your belts, when [the state] couldn’t tighten its belt without these gimmicks.

LGA is what keeps communities across the state strong and propety taxes equitable, but under Governor Pawlenty’s original proposal, cities will see a dramatic decrease in this funding on the heels of an LGA cut last December.

While the Governor was name-calling on his radio show, Alliance for a Better Minnesota and a coalition of labor groups aired the 8th in a series of radio ads featuring regular Minnesotans talking about the cost of Gov. Pawlenty’s policies, which often put his  political ambitions ahead of the needs of Minnesota’s working families.

In the ad, a health care worker from Corcoran asks Governor Pawlenty "How does cutting hospital jobs, laying off cops, and shutting down nursing homes help Minnesota in this economy?"

Listen to Ladonna’s ad here and share it with your friends: