St. Paul Park is proposing one of the lowest tax levy increases in the metro as many Minnesota cities look at bigger hikes.
Cities across Minnesota are releasing proposed levy increases, with Minneapolis at 11.3%, St. Paul at 6.8%, Apple Valley at 8.9% and Minnetonka at 6.8%.
In St. Paul Park, city leaders are proposing a 1.8% increase after a near 10% increase last year.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS found James Vang pumping gas near his St. Paul Park home and talking taxes.
For homeowners in the city of about 5,000 people, the proposed levy increase could mean some tax relief.
“Well, I do appreciate lower taxes. I mean, it helps with lowering my costs. It makes living a little bit easier for myself and my family I guess,” Vang said.
For the owner of a median house valued at about $295,000, property taxes would be about $1,173. Mayor Keith Franke said that would be a $23 decrease from last year.
Why is it lower?
Franke said the city is trying to keep tax bills down as it plans its 2027 budget of $3.3 million.
He said the city plans to use interest revenue to add $110,000, count on $800,000 in local government aid and skip outside consultants to save $50,000.
“We didn’t want to gouge the citizens if we didn’t have to,” Franke said. “Having the vision to say, hey, for this year, let’s do what we can to just keep things down as we make our plans to go forward, and then we’ll figure out from there.”
Washington County also increased the valuation rate of homes there by 4.1%. Franke said the city is budgeting for less than that, which reduced the tax bill.
Economist John Spry of the University of St. Thomas said smaller towns typically have smaller payrolls and provide fewer services.
He said slower spending growth can also help keep levy growth down.
“If your spending growth is slower, your property levy growth doesn’t have to be as high,” Spry said.
What happens next?
Spry said a lower rate can also help local governments if residents approve of what leaders are doing. He said that can show up in elections and in home values.
“If people like what the local government is doing, then you should not only see that local officials are doing well in elections, but you also see that’s helping home values,” Spry said.
Franke said the city is doing more with less, and its budget decreased more than four-and-a-half percent from the previous year.
He said there are no guarantees the city can do the same next time, but the goal is to save taxpayers a few dollars this year.