07-11-2022 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, June 27, 2022 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 3 of 11 Mr. LaTondresse replied what Mayor Walsh is describing reflects the old mill-rate system which expired in 1988. He noted they do not set a tax rate but set a max levy which is in reference to the amount of money collected this year. If they set a 3.5% levy this year in the face of roughly an 18% increase in property values it will not translate to an 18% levy increase. He noted it does not go up dramatically or down dramatically which is why the State changed the system. Johnson asked how Mr. LaTondresse’s district compared in property tax increase assessments versus the other districts. Mr. LaTondresse invited the City Council to participate in a meeting on Wednesday evening which will go over property value increases and the impact on individual property taxes. Broadly speaking in Hennepin County it has gone up 18% in value, Wright County was at 18%, Carver County at 20%, so in terms of assessed values Hennepin County is pretty comparable, noting Orono was about 24-25%. Johnson clarified his question he is curious about minimums and maximums within Hennepin County, for example downtown Minneapolis. Jim Atchison, County Assessor, stated all of the reports are based on City and suburban versus Minneapolis, so he does not have one that goes right to the districts, although he can get it for the City. In general starting in Minneapolis, the further West and North one goes the higher the increase and the higher the value of the residential property, the higher the increase. Western Hennepin had higher increases than the inner core of Minneapolis in single-family residentials. Bloomington increased more than Richfield. Edina increased more than East Bloomington, etcetera. Mr. Atchison said overall the City of Minneapolis had an increase of 6.9% with residential single-family up about 8.6%, apartments are up 7.3%, and commercial is up 4%. Johnson asked for the breakdown for Orono. Mr. Atchison shared for the City of Orono, single-family residential is up 21.9%, apartments are up 10.5%, commercial is up 13.7%, and a small sample of industrial is up 5.4%. Overall in the entire City the increase was 24.1%. Johnson noted Orono is seeing a 3X increase of values and asked if that translates to the amount of resources that come directly into their district or if they are disproportionately spread throughout Hennepin County? In other words, Orono is generating more money for more improvements through this tax increase, but does it stay here? Mr. LaTondresse replied property taxes account for about 1/3 of Hennepin County’s budget overall and the primary function of Hennepin County is human services. Those services are not geography based but follow residents where they are eligible for those programs and benefits so that is where those dollars go. There are other areas that budget directly into place-based investments such as public works, libraries, roads and bridges, housing investments, and there is concerted effort to make sure there is an equitable distribution of those resources County-wide. In looking at it in aggregate, where there is a higher concentration of residents living in poverty, there is probably a higher percentage of those program dollars going in that direction. Other things funded through property tax dollars include Sheriff’s budget, courts, County Attorney Office, and all of those services.