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Page Number: 7.0

4 

TYLER v. HENNEPIN COUNTY 

Opinion of the Court 

Stat. §281.18; County of Blue Earth v. Turtle, 593 N. W. 2d 
258, 261 (Minn. App. 1999).  That sale does not extinguish 
the  taxpayer’s  debts.    Instead,  the  borrower  remains  per-
sonally liable.  See St. Paul v. St. Anthony Flats Ltd. Part-
nership, 517 N. W. 2d 58, 62 (Minn. App. 1994).  Had Tyler 
received the surplus from the tax sale, she could have at the
very least used it to reduce any such liability.

At this initial stage of the case, Tyler need not definitively 
prove her injury or disprove the County’s defenses.  She has 
plausibly pleaded on the face of her complaint that she suf-
fered financial harm from the County’s action, and that is
enough for now.  See Lujan, 504 U. S., at 561. 

III 
A 
The Takings Clause, applicable to the States through the
Fourteenth  Amendment,  provides  that  “private  property
[shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensa-
tion.”  U. S.  Const.,  Amdt.  5.    States  have  long  imposed 
taxes on property.  Such taxes are not themselves a taking,
but are a mandated “contribution from individuals . . . for 
the  support  of  the  government  . . .  for  which  they  receive
compensation in the protection which government affords.” 
County of Mobile v. Kimball, 102 U. S. 691, 703 (1881).  In 
collecting  these  taxes,  the  State  may  impose  interest  and
late  fees.    It  may  also  seize  and  sell  property,  including 
land,  to  recover  the  amount  owed.    See  Jones  v.  Flowers, 
547 U. S. 220, 234 (2006).  Here there was money remaining
after Tyler’s home was seized and sold by the County to sat-
isfy  her  past  due  taxes,  along  with  the  costs  of  collecting
them.  The  question  is  whether  that  remaining  value  is
property under the Takings Clause, protected from uncom-
pensated appropriation by the State.

The Takings Clause does not itself define property.  Phil-
lips  v.  Washington  Legal  Foundation,  524  U. S.  156,  164