A new report from the State Auditor’s Office could fuel debate over property taxes and state aid when the Minnesota Legislature goes back into session next week. The report finds total revenues of Minnesota cities dropped six percent over the ten years ending in 2015, but the proportion of that money which came from property taxes grew nearly 50 percent, compared to only a six-percent increase from state aid and other sources. Over that ten years, overall expenditures by cities increased about 12 percent, but if you count inflation, spending actually dropped about nine percent. The largest expenditure categories for small and large cities are streets-and-highways and public safety, each representing about one-quarter of a typical municipality’s budget.