Kevin Peterson, a business owner and entrepreneur, spoke with Liz Collin on her podcast about his experience trying to get financial data from Hennepin County and the shocking results of his analysis.
Peterson also explained how his concerns about tax increases, government spending, fraud—and a lack of government transparency—have led him to get more involved in politics and run for office in the Minnesota State Senate.
WATCH:
Peterson said he was inspired by Sebastian Stoss, who took a look at taxes and spending on nonprofit organizations in Ramsey County. Stoss found that Ramsey County was spending $38 million on more than 200 nonprofits amid a nearly 10% increase in property taxes.
Much like Stoss, who encountered delays in getting data from Ramsey County, Peterson also encountered delays and had to demand financial data from Hennepin County several times.
Peterson told Collin that, “back in December, I submitted my first data request to Hennepin County. I asked for the last eight years of nonprofit spending. They sent me one year. After a couple weeks and I responded back with, ‘appreciate the one year, but I’m looking to understand trends. Please send me the last eight years.’”
“I didn’t get a response,” he said.
Peterson then started attending the Hennepin County Board meetings, where he spoke up, asked questions, and demanded answers.
“I just asked as a property tax owner … for a little bit more transparency on how our dollars are spent and why the fluctuations have happened the way that they have. And I think as taxpayers, we kind of are owed that level of transparency. So that’s what I’ve been asking for,” Peterson said.
After a few months, Peterson said he received all of the data he requested, which confirmed some concerning trends.
According to his data analysis, Peterson found that spending within the Hennepin County budget went from $1.9 billion in 2016 to $3.1 billion in projected spending in 2026.
Peterson also found that the headcount for county employees went from about 8,000 in 2016 to 10,000 in 2024, with about 9,700 currently.
Spending on nonprofit organizations nearly doubled in eight years
However, it was the nearly double amount of spending on nonprofits that concerned Peterson the most.
“Roughly, Hennepin County interacts with anywhere between 500 and 600 nonprofits. And back in 2017, it spent $150 million on nonprofits,” Peterson explained. The number increased to $300 million in recent years.
“So effectively doubling its nonprofit spending over that eight-year period,” he said.
He also discovered another concerning trend with property taxes and spending on what the county calls “uncompensated care,” which, according to Peterson’s analysis, more than doubled.
“I came across this topic of uncompensated care (page IV-41 of the 2026 Hennepin County Operating Budget) within HCMC (Hennepin County Medical Center) and noticed that that also doubled; it went from $18 million being spent on uncompensated care in 2016 to $38 million budgeted for 2026—with a spike of $45 million spent in 2024,” Peterson said.
He also explained how uncompensated care is “actually paid with property tax receipts” and how “that is one element that they break out and explicitly say that property taxes are used to pay for uncompensated care.”
“I think most people would want to ensure that folks are taken care of … but the lack of transparency and how that money’s spent — and then what the nonprofits do with that money is a bit troubling to me,” Peterson said.
Meanwhile, Peterson talked about how Hennepin County sent out notices with “another six to eight percent increase in property taxes, but yet they’re not committed, from what I can tell, to reducing the overall spending profile of the county.”
The experience in trying to get the financial data and then discovering the concerning trends with nonprofit spending, property taxes, and a lack of transparency has led Peterson to run for the Minnesota Senate.
He’s running as a Republican in District 42 which represents Plymouth, Maple Grove and Medicine Lake.
Lack of concern about fraud
The overall lack of concern about fraud in city, county, and state government also prompted Peterson to become more involved.
“I attended the Jan. 27 Plymouth City Council meeting where all of my elected representatives shared their legislative priorities,” Peterson said, underscoring that “not a single one of them mentioned the word fraud or addressed it as an issue that they want to bring into legislation to solve.”
Peterson further explained that “as someone who cares about how the financial management of both my city, my county, and my state are being run, I’m not entirely sure that the people who have been elected to represent me are focusing on the things that I would want them to focus on with regards to financial management.”
“So that’s one of the main reasons I’ve decided to put my hat in the ring to run for State Senate, to just bring a level of focus to the financial management of those three entities, the state, the county, and the city,” he added.
Peterson says he believes in “the Minnesota ethos” that Minnesotans want to have “a good government” and “build a social system that truly helped people.”
However, he also talked about how Minnesotans have reacted to his findings: “I think that people, as they’ve learned more about how those tax dollars have been wasted and defrauded, they’re surprised at first and I think there just comes to be this point of, candidly, just a little bit of anger.”
“As much as anger can happen for a Minnesotan, there is some anger there. And I think as more and more people become aware that their assumption of how money spent isn’t accurate, they then become advocates for what I’m talking about—which is, how do we get to a better place of financial management within the state?” Peterson added.
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis” and “Minnesota v We the People.”
Subscribe Below To Our Weekly Newsletter of our Latest Videos and Receive a Discount Code For A FREE eBook from our eBook store:
