Property taxes are rising across Twin Cities area — here’s where they’re increasing the most

Jayson Dahl’s eyes grew wider as he went to his mailbox and saw what he could expect on next year’s property tax bill: a 16.9% increase to Anoka County’s tax levy and a 17.1% jump for the city of Blaine’s.

Overall, Dahl’s annual property taxes could rise about 10%, or nearly $580, even as the value of his northeast Blaine home takes a dip, county records show.

“The average homeowner can’t afford this huge increase,” Dahl said. “As a single-parent, single-income household these significant increases are detrimental to our everyday living.”

Homeowners are feeling a similar heartburn across the Twin Cities metro in November, as they receive statements with a glimpse into proposed property taxes for next year.

Every county and most cities are raising their tax levies. Hennepin County has proposed a 5.5% jump in its levy, while Ramsey County could go up more than 4.7%. Dakota County is looking at a 9.9% increase, followed by Carver at 8.9%, Scott at 6.8% and Washington at 5.9%.

Minneapolis and St. Paul leaders have discussed 8.1% and 7.9% levy bumps, respectively.

Officials cite similar reasons: rising costs and wages, inflationary pressure, hiring needs and a drop in one-time funding, including federal COVID-19 relief dollars.

But the double-digit jump in Anoka County has been especially surprising for homeowners who watched the county keep its levy relatively flat in recent years while many others raised taxes. That was a policy decision that county officials today criticize as leading to years of deficit spending and a $40 million gap in next year’s budget.

“I would call this a correction year,” said Anoka County Administrator Jim Dickinson. “And then there will be better levy years ahead.”

The levy hike along with budget cuts, he said, will help the county raise salaries to better compete with its neighbors and add employees in understaffed departments. The proposal has led to contentious debate on the board, but officials agree the needs have gone ignored for too long.

“This is the worst decision of my political career. I absolutely hate this,” Commissioner Julie Jeppson said at a recent board meeting. “I know this is going to have very real consequences on people. But this is where we’re at.

“The money doesn’t exist elsewhere.”

Municipalities earlier this fall approved maximum levies, which were used to calculate expected property taxes on notices homeowners received in the mail. Proposed tax bills do not yet include any school bond referendums approved in the November election.

Those tax levies are still preliminary. Counties and cities will finalize levy amounts in December after public hearings grant homeowners a chance to voice their opinions.

Property tax statements have confused some homeowners across the metro, as they see flat or falling home values, yet higher bills.

“That’s always the hardest thing to explain to property owners,” said Anoka County Assessor Alex Guggenberger.

Home values appear to be leveling off across many suburbs, after double-digit increases in some areas over recent years. The average homeowner in many cities isn’t seeing a significant change to their values, or only a moderate rise or drop, with some exceptions throughout the region.

But a falling home value does not automatically mean lower taxes. A home value dropping will only bring down taxes when it’s happening to one house, not to an entire city or region. If every home sees a lower value, then the change doesn’t mean much when it comes time to calculate property taxes.

Many communities in Washington County saw lower home values. In Woodbury, median home values fell 3.4% to 4.6% depending on the associated school district.

But taxes will still go up for the owner of a median-valued home in many communities because of spending decisions made at county, city and school board meetings, or by special referendums.

Taxes could fall in the portion of Hugo that’s served by the White Bear Lake School District, where proposed property taxes on a median-valued home would drop $103. Taxes could rise, meanwhile, in the portion of Lake Elmo that’s covered by the Mahtomedi school district, by $694 for a median-valued home.

Across Hennepin County, proposed city levy increases range from a 2.29% jump in Orono to a 26.66% hike in Loretto.

Officials are quick to caution that individual tax bills might vary, particularly in areas where home values are changing. School and watershed districts also have the ability to raise or decrease their tax levies, leading to variations within cities.

Hennepin County officials expect the median $527,000 home in Plymouth to see an 11-cent total tax increase next year if they live in the Robbinsdale school district — or a $270 increase if they live in the Wayzata Public Schools district.

Plymouth city leaders are looking at a 5.2% levy increase next year, a smaller jump than in other recent years, when officials were working on big projects like a local community center and new fire stations.

Median homeowners in some Ramsey County cities — where average home values climbed — will see some of the biggest property tax jumps, by dollar amount, in the metro. In Maplewood, for example, the median homeowner will pay about $400 more in 2025.

In Scott County, Savage homeowners in the Burnsville school district could see their taxes rise by as much as $157, while owners there in the Shakopee district could experience a maximum increase of $132.

In Northfield, which straddles Rice and Dakota counties, the City Council’s approval of a 17.2% preliminary levy increase raised eyebrows. Residents of the 21,000-person city have seen tax hikes in recent years as officials pursue a slate of infrastructure projects.

“We certainly have some projects that are driving our increases, but you’re going to see those in other cities, too,” City Administrator Ben Martig said, adding Northfield is trying to grow its commercial tax base to reduce the burden on residents.

In the north metro, Blaine Mayor Tim Sanders said the city’s proposed 17% levy increase, after another spike last year, is largely due to ballooning expenses for public safety and public works as the city’s population grows.

Sanders hopes in December city officials will be able to cut the tax increase by a percentage point or two. But he emphasized that property taxes are the city’s main and largest revenue source.

If the max levies are approved by the county and city, the median home in Blaine will see about a 9%, or $300, jump in property taxes.

The city of Anoka could raise its levy by 10.2% this year, lower than last year’s 20.2% boost. The median homeowner would see a $108 annual property tax increase.

Homeowners are grappling with the city increases on top of Anoka County’s. After keeping the levy flat in previous years, the county raised it 10.4% last year, down from the 15.4% initially proposed.

County Chair Mike Gamache said officials are taking a more thorough, multi-year approach to budgeting to help close the deficit. That could mean another, but lower, spike next year.

Retired Anoka teacher Jody Anderson said it was “too bad” the county is in the position of trying to make up funding. But she supports raising taxes for staff pay.

“I do think it’s a lot all at once,” she said. “Some people are going to be hurt by it.”

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

Some homeowners are seeing relief after the Legislature made changes to the homestead market value exclusion, which reduces the amount of a home’s value that is subject to tax. Lawmakers adjusted the tax reduction to include all homesteads valued below $517,200.

The exclusion shifts a portion of the property tax burden to higher valued homes and other types of property.

“Our cities that have lower median home values are going up far less in taxes,” Guggenberger said.

In Anoka, retiree Dennis Taylor was surprised to see his proposed tax bill, which he worried would bring an “uncomfortable” hit due to the levy increases. But the exclusion, along with a lower school district levy, changed the outlook.

“My net total taxes are going up less than a dollar,” Taylor said. “I was flabbergasted.”

Staff writer Greta Kaul contributed to this story.