Divided Anoka County Board approves nearly 17% tax levy hike in sometimes tense meeting

After months of tense debate, a split Anoka County Board on Tuesday approved a nearly 17% property tax levy increase, the highest hike in recent history, as officials work to close a projected $40 million budget deficit.

In a meeting that became heated at times, with some commissioners calling for civility and an end to dysfunction, the board voted 4-3 to raise the levy by 16.9%. As a result, the owner of a median $327,000 home can expect to see a $116 bump in property taxes next year.

“It pains me. It sickens me that we have the levy in front of us that we do,” said Commissioner Julie Jeppson, who voted in favor of the budget. “Hearing from constituents is gut-wrenching.

“I don’t want to do this, but I have to do this.”

It’s an unusual move for Anoka County, which in recent years had kept its property tax levy relatively flat while others across the metro steadily raised taxes. While divided on the steep increase for next year, commissioners agreed those past decisions created an unsustainable budget, where the county drew down its reserves and failed to fully staff departments.

Across the Twin Cities metro, every county and most cities are raising their tax levies for next year, with officials citing similar reasons, including rising costs and wages.

A municipality setting a higher levy doesn’t mean every homeowner’s taxes will go up by the same amount. Several factors, such as changes to the tax base and assessment trends, determine each property owner’s share of the tax burden.

On Monday night, about 40 residents filed into an Anoka County Board meeting to voice concerns about making ends meet amid rising costs and inflation on top of the tax increase.

“Inflation has hit everybody incredibly hard over the last three or four years. We’re all fighting that animal right now. And it’s killing us,” Anoka homeowner Jeff Lee told the board. “We’re all trying to squeeze a lot more out of the same amount of dollars that we’ve had.”

The Anoka County Board began to address the budget crunch last year, raising the property tax levy 10.4% — less than the 15.4% initially proposed. Along with putting an end to what officials call years of “deficit spending,” a main focus has been boosting staff salaries to better compete with neighboring municipalities.

Chair Mike Gamache said Tuesday the county has struggled to hire and retain employees due to low pay. The levy increase, he said, will fund higher wages and help add employees in understaffed departments.

“We all decided that we were losing too many employees to other counties, smaller counties and cities,” Gamache said. “We made the determination that we needed to adjust our salaries so we would stop wasting money by hiring, training and then losing people.”

Commissioners are considering a five-year plan to address the budget crunch while keeping up with rising costs, salaries and projects. That could mean additional, smaller tax levy increases each year until 2029.

“We cut too hard. We cut too thin. We need to make up for it,” Commissioner Scott Schulte, who voted for the levy increase, said. “This is the start of that. We are ripping a Band-Aid off.”

Commissioner Mandy Meisner also voted to approve the increase.

Commissioner Jeff Reinert voted against the hike, arguing it was unfair to place such a steep increase on taxpayers next year. He has argued for a more gradual increase.

“Read the room: Everybody is hurting. To do it all at once is not a good idea,” he said, adding that “the taxpayers can’t afford it.”

Commissioners Julie Braastad and John Heinrich — who in November won a seat on the board left vacant when Matt Look resigned — also voted against the increase. Braastad sparked tension when she accused the board of overspending and prioritizing wants over needs.

Several other commissioners said that wasn’t a true.

“This attacking of colleagues and blame game has got to stop,” Reinert said in response. “This board needs to be more functional. We need to work together.”