Hutchinson residents are receiving letters asking them to lobby their representative in the Minnesota House to support increased state aid to local governments as a way to help keep property tax increases low.

Last week, Mayor Steve Cook and Economic Development Director Miles Seppelt did their own lobbying in St. Paul on behalf of the city. They addressed the Senate Taxes Committee on the benefit cities such as Hutchinson have gained from the controversial job opportunity building zones program.

Cook told senators that Hutchinson has had two JOBZ projects that created jobs — Warrior Manufacturing, a maker of steel elevator and ethanol plant components that opened in the industrial park last summer, and Customer Elations, a Bloomington-based customer service call center under construction now.

JOBZ is a tool the city also is using in an attempt to lure a European manufacturer of gear boxes for wind turbines, Seppelt said.

Cook and Seppelt were just two of many city leaders from across the state that spoke in support of the program. Cook urged lawmakers to fix JOBZ, not dismantle it.

Read more about JOBZ in the April 15 Hutchinson Leader.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com [2].)