Having worked in the nonprofit sector for many years as a finance/HR Director, I know there are nonprofits that adhere strictly to proper accounting and billing procedures which are complex and laborious. Nonprofits that adhere to best practices will retain experienced accounting staff, CPA's and grant managers; these are middle and upper management roles that can be well paid. Having said that, and experienced the work load of managing federal and state grants, I eventually came to the conclusion that taxpayer funded government agencies (city/county/state) are the appropriate places to manage and direct the work, not subcontracted nonprofits.
The nonprofit complex is redundant, with numerous nonprofits addressing the same social problems such as housing and hunger and each one needs to have an ED, upper management staff (like my role) and other roles like development/mission advancement. Each nonprofit has a board of business execs who enjoy the status and the networking of being on a non profit board.
So each nonprofit has to plan and organize board events, food, minute taking, etc. There is loads of work involved in managing a functional nonprofit. Let's say there are 10 nonprofits (at least) in the Twin Cities all working on affordable housing, and each ED is earning 100k/yr, that's 1 million a year, and this does not include all the other salaries. Now multiply all those personnel costs over decades...you can see quickly that this model is deeply flawed. Public workers could perform these tasks better and at a fraction of the costs, and the front line (lower paid) workers would be protected by unions, another benefit.
Another big group of proposals is the “Duplicating what other government is already doing.” There is teaching people how driver’s licenses work, something that the state DMV does. Transportation for seniors, something that Metro Transit does. A navigation line for seniors, something that the state Department of Human Services does. $25,000 for some group to tell us how to implement mental health services for gay and lesbian folks, something Human Services also does. Paying for post-incarceration services, like the State Corrections Department does. There is providing free immigrant law advice, something already done by the Immigrant Law Center, which is funded by government. The biggest duplication of work is taking over services for the homeless from Hennepin County. It is just baffling that the City would spend millions duplicating what is already being done instead of working with other jurisdictions. It is also baffling that the City Council thinks the City can somehow be more effective than larger, more experienced, and older programs. These programs are usually handled at the state or county level because many of these populations move around, and Minneapolis ends up shouldering the burden for the whole region.
Terry - the idea of Universal Basic Income is one that is dear to my heart and to my brain. The research on this is pretty convincing, that there is a net positive impact on those people receiving these incomes - regardless of income levels. While having UBI does not mean that we can get rid of all of these other services - particularly as it relates to crime prevention, autism support, and other key services, it does create an environment that reduces poverty, typically improves health and well-being, improves education - including high-school attendance and performance, and does not reduce labor market participation (i.e., I will quit my job) or change consumption patterns to more indulgences such as alcohol or drugs.
Research from Stanford chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://basicincome.stanford.edu/uploads/Umbrella%20Review%20BI_final.pdf
Hi Kurt, thank you for adding this information to the discussion. Let me know if you'd be willing to help analyze the results of the Minneapolis pilot.
As the city ramps up the safe and thriving program let's hope it is an opportunity to deal with corruption as opposed to just more and more of the same. From the website to recruit volunteers to some to the new community workgroup:
"Join the Safe and Thriving Communities work group
The Office of Community Safety is seeking 21 community members to join a work group. Members will advise the city in its efforts to improve safety services in a comprehensive way. The work group will also work on engagement opportunities to connect with community members.
Goal
To provide feedback as the city develops its community safety ecosystem. This includes:
Thank you thank you for continuing to shine a light on what seems like obvious corruption! What are the ties of the current slate of "non-profits" to the City Council...
Are city/county/state/federal expenditures publicly available, along with information surrounding oversight (audits, e.g.)? The old adage always seems to prove itself true: absolute power corrupts absolutely. It seems like the only way to keep fraud at bay is with a very bright flashlight. A legitimate 2-party system should help get partway there, but even that has limitations.
I haven't found an easy reference for expenditures. What might help on the city level is creating a database of what is being passed by the city council.
You write, "Unfortunately, Minneapolis is effectively a one-party city—the DFL—and that party seems locked in the orthodoxy of the past." How do you define the past? I've lived in this town 50 years and for most of that 'past' the council was more budget-minded and less ideological. City Council president Barb Johnson, to name one. I'm winging it here, but seems to me the shift occurred in the last 10 or so years. After Hillary defeated Bernie for the nomination, his supporters started Our Revolution, which I believe is a national group. They identify as Socialist, (DSA) and did a good job of mobilizing their people to turn out at caucuses, allowing them to defeat the more moderate leadership -- eg. Barb Johnson. It'd be interesting to talk to some of those former council members about how they did things then vs now. (Our urban state reps were also more pragmatic than the current group.)
This piece is good! Lots for folks to talk about and consider. The last line...
"It also seems willing to act as though budgets can rise indefinitely and taxpayers will always be there to foot the bill."
Since about money, ADD this into the mix..
The State is having its own financial issues and now with the Trump Admin, that will likely get worse, as our state is targeted with threats of losing more federal tax dollars.
Then to make things worse... in Mpls IF we do go to State, to ask for more, to do more for us, when the State already knows how we handle our money, (how do they know? because they observed the Mpls budget process THIS year,) we as a city are even more vulnerable.
The State/ everyone can see how much money, millions, simply lost now, just by this ONE thing, not moving ahead on George Floyd Square , ( FIVE years later.) So why would the State or other entities trust us with money. We are currently making bad decisions, and they are compounding. This next election in Mpls could not be any more important.
The state's record with handling federal dollars isn't exactly exemplary! As a life-long Dem, it pains me to say it but my side isn't looking so great when it comes making sound funding decisions.
Appreciate the response. All the more reason why the City should have people on the Mpls City Council that know enough about the fundamentals, the big/ger picture, to be able to plan ahead, 4-5 years, on the critical things, while being able to explain all to the tax payers, and the people that depend on the tax payers. What we saw this year during the budget process seemed chaotic, short sighted, and left many concerned. With enough qualified people on the Council this next year, and with their terms now for four years, we may actually get some where.
Thank you, Terry for continuing to cover these incredibly important topics on how our tax dollars are being spent and more importantly how they’re being spent without any significant oversight.
Having worked in the nonprofit sector for many years as a finance/HR Director, I know there are nonprofits that adhere strictly to proper accounting and billing procedures which are complex and laborious. Nonprofits that adhere to best practices will retain experienced accounting staff, CPA's and grant managers; these are middle and upper management roles that can be well paid. Having said that, and experienced the work load of managing federal and state grants, I eventually came to the conclusion that taxpayer funded government agencies (city/county/state) are the appropriate places to manage and direct the work, not subcontracted nonprofits.
The nonprofit complex is redundant, with numerous nonprofits addressing the same social problems such as housing and hunger and each one needs to have an ED, upper management staff (like my role) and other roles like development/mission advancement. Each nonprofit has a board of business execs who enjoy the status and the networking of being on a non profit board.
So each nonprofit has to plan and organize board events, food, minute taking, etc. There is loads of work involved in managing a functional nonprofit. Let's say there are 10 nonprofits (at least) in the Twin Cities all working on affordable housing, and each ED is earning 100k/yr, that's 1 million a year, and this does not include all the other salaries. Now multiply all those personnel costs over decades...you can see quickly that this model is deeply flawed. Public workers could perform these tasks better and at a fraction of the costs, and the front line (lower paid) workers would be protected by unions, another benefit.
Great insights, thank you for sharing.
Thank you! Something related in this piece from Dec about the Mpls budget decisions.
https://minneapolistimes.com/2025-budget-city-councils-values-display/
Excerpt..
Another big group of proposals is the “Duplicating what other government is already doing.” There is teaching people how driver’s licenses work, something that the state DMV does. Transportation for seniors, something that Metro Transit does. A navigation line for seniors, something that the state Department of Human Services does. $25,000 for some group to tell us how to implement mental health services for gay and lesbian folks, something Human Services also does. Paying for post-incarceration services, like the State Corrections Department does. There is providing free immigrant law advice, something already done by the Immigrant Law Center, which is funded by government. The biggest duplication of work is taking over services for the homeless from Hennepin County. It is just baffling that the City would spend millions duplicating what is already being done instead of working with other jurisdictions. It is also baffling that the City Council thinks the City can somehow be more effective than larger, more experienced, and older programs. These programs are usually handled at the state or county level because many of these populations move around, and Minneapolis ends up shouldering the burden for the whole region.
Terry - the idea of Universal Basic Income is one that is dear to my heart and to my brain. The research on this is pretty convincing, that there is a net positive impact on those people receiving these incomes - regardless of income levels. While having UBI does not mean that we can get rid of all of these other services - particularly as it relates to crime prevention, autism support, and other key services, it does create an environment that reduces poverty, typically improves health and well-being, improves education - including high-school attendance and performance, and does not reduce labor market participation (i.e., I will quit my job) or change consumption patterns to more indulgences such as alcohol or drugs.
Research from Stanford chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://basicincome.stanford.edu/uploads/Umbrella%20Review%20BI_final.pdf
Hi Kurt, thank you for adding this information to the discussion. Let me know if you'd be willing to help analyze the results of the Minneapolis pilot.
As the city ramps up the safe and thriving program let's hope it is an opportunity to deal with corruption as opposed to just more and more of the same. From the website to recruit volunteers to some to the new community workgroup:
"Join the Safe and Thriving Communities work group
The Office of Community Safety is seeking 21 community members to join a work group. Members will advise the city in its efforts to improve safety services in a comprehensive way. The work group will also work on engagement opportunities to connect with community members.
Goal
To provide feedback as the city develops its community safety ecosystem. This includes:
Prevention services
Non-police response services
Restoration services
Safety processes and procedures
Community safety centers"
Of course nothing here makes me think avoiding corruption is on their radar when looking for work group members
https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/departments/community-safety/safe-thriving-work-group/membership-info/
Thank you thank you for continuing to shine a light on what seems like obvious corruption! What are the ties of the current slate of "non-profits" to the City Council...
Are city/county/state/federal expenditures publicly available, along with information surrounding oversight (audits, e.g.)? The old adage always seems to prove itself true: absolute power corrupts absolutely. It seems like the only way to keep fraud at bay is with a very bright flashlight. A legitimate 2-party system should help get partway there, but even that has limitations.
I haven't found an easy reference for expenditures. What might help on the city level is creating a database of what is being passed by the city council.
Another good one, thanks. But a quibble.
You write, "Unfortunately, Minneapolis is effectively a one-party city—the DFL—and that party seems locked in the orthodoxy of the past." How do you define the past? I've lived in this town 50 years and for most of that 'past' the council was more budget-minded and less ideological. City Council president Barb Johnson, to name one. I'm winging it here, but seems to me the shift occurred in the last 10 or so years. After Hillary defeated Bernie for the nomination, his supporters started Our Revolution, which I believe is a national group. They identify as Socialist, (DSA) and did a good job of mobilizing their people to turn out at caucuses, allowing them to defeat the more moderate leadership -- eg. Barb Johnson. It'd be interesting to talk to some of those former council members about how they did things then vs now. (Our urban state reps were also more pragmatic than the current group.)
This piece is good! Lots for folks to talk about and consider. The last line...
"It also seems willing to act as though budgets can rise indefinitely and taxpayers will always be there to foot the bill."
Since about money, ADD this into the mix..
The State is having its own financial issues and now with the Trump Admin, that will likely get worse, as our state is targeted with threats of losing more federal tax dollars.
Then to make things worse... in Mpls IF we do go to State, to ask for more, to do more for us, when the State already knows how we handle our money, (how do they know? because they observed the Mpls budget process THIS year,) we as a city are even more vulnerable.
The State/ everyone can see how much money, millions, simply lost now, just by this ONE thing, not moving ahead on George Floyd Square , ( FIVE years later.) So why would the State or other entities trust us with money. We are currently making bad decisions, and they are compounding. This next election in Mpls could not be any more important.
The state's record with handling federal dollars isn't exactly exemplary! As a life-long Dem, it pains me to say it but my side isn't looking so great when it comes making sound funding decisions.
Appreciate the response. All the more reason why the City should have people on the Mpls City Council that know enough about the fundamentals, the big/ger picture, to be able to plan ahead, 4-5 years, on the critical things, while being able to explain all to the tax payers, and the people that depend on the tax payers. What we saw this year during the budget process seemed chaotic, short sighted, and left many concerned. With enough qualified people on the Council this next year, and with their terms now for four years, we may actually get some where.
Thank you, Terry for continuing to cover these incredibly important topics on how our tax dollars are being spent and more importantly how they’re being spent without any significant oversight.