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Mayors from St. Paul, St. Cloud and several metro area suburbs say Gov. Mark Dayton's 

 will help them maintain services without a property tax hike. 


The mayors held a press conference Wednesday to support an increase in the state's local government aid program.

 by $80 million dollars a year starting in 2014. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman says that money will help fill a hole in his city budget.

"So that we can put police officers on the street, so that we can have a fire department that can respond to any emergency, so that we can have great assets like libraries and parks and great opportunities for our cities to grow economically," Coleman said.

In spite of the proposed increase, Coleman said he probably won't be able to cut the city's property tax levy.

Cities have seen the amount of money they receive in state aid cut by 27 percent since 2003. Local property taxes increased by 60 percent over that period.

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Curtis Gilbert

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Mayors from St. Paul, St. Cloud and several metro area suburbs say Gov. Mark Dayton's proposed budget will help them maintain services without a property tax hike.

Mayors: Dayton budget will keep property taxes down

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