MINOT — Consternation over property taxes has been a thing for about as long as I've been covering property taxes, and one of the most enduring battles within that war has been over property tax exemptions. Some, including this humble correspondent, argue that the exemptions drive up property taxes. What's more interesting is what this policy proposal acknowledges, which is that property tax exemptions have a real cost. Watch local debates over property tax exemptions, and there's typically zero effort to directly address the cost of the exemption. — but I heartily endorse the eyes-wide-open approach, which acknowledges a simple truth that frequently gets lost in the muddy waters of property tax debates.