DULUTH — St. Louis County commissioners have indicated their initial support for a proposed maximum property tax cap that could boost property tax revenues by up to 7.23% next year.
That might sound like a hefty hike, but it’s less than the 7.8% growth the county has seen in its tax base this past year. And as a result, taxpayers whose properties have not increased in value actually may see a slight dip in their 2025 taxes.
Residential properties account for the greatest portion of the growth in the county’s tax capacity, according to Mary Garness, the county’s public records and valuation director.
The county raised its assessed value of existing properties by more than $2 billion in 2024.
“And residential properties made up about 64% of that increase,” Garness said. “So, what that would show you is a bit of a burden shift.”
She explained that residential tax revenues have been growing more rapidly than commercial property taxes for the past couple of years.
But Garness said: “That trend, while it continues, is tapering off a bit, and that’s just based on the data. It definitely makes it maybe harder to become a homeowner when these conditions are in place.”
The average increase in value of St. Louis residential properties rose 7.87% from 2023 to 2024.
The county’s proposed levy increase stands in stark contrast to the one Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert has brought forth. He calls for
, which is in keeping with the amount of property tax growth the city has seen from 2023 to 2024.
The Duluth City Council will have the final say on the size of the municipal levy later this month, however. Councilors may find additional wiggle room, as the value of Duluth’s overall property tax base has grown 6.44% in value in the past year.
While the growth in residential property values has been most robust in recent years, Garness said St. Louis County also has continued to enlarge its commercial base.
In 2024, she noted that the commercial property tax base grew by nearly 10%. And throughout the pandemic, the overall value of St. Louis County’s commercial property has managed to withstand erosion — climbing between 3% and 6% annually from 2020 to 2023.
Many of the services local governments deliver and the costs they incur are mandated by state government, as BreAnn Graber, St. Louis County’s budget and business improvement manager, explained.
“We just don’t have a lot of control over what we can and don’t do,” she said.
St. Louis County must also offer competitive wages and benefits to recruit and retain workers in a tight labor market, Graber said. Plus, she noted that inflation continues to drive costs higher, whether that’s for supplies and materials or for food to feed those held at the St. Louis County Jail.
All the while, Graber said the county strives to maintain strong public safety services and support networks for its residents.
County commissioners are expected to vote to establish the maximum levy on Sept. 24, with the actual levy to be finalized come December.
Peter Passi covers city and county government for the Duluth News Tribune. He joined the paper in April 2000, initially as a business reporter but has worked a number of beats through the years.
window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({
appId : '929722297680135',
xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); };
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js";
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Source link