Growth will help cushion Mankato property owners
"The overall tax capacity of the city grew by about 6 percent," City Manager
About two-thirds of that growth represents new construction. The remainder is existing properties that saw their assessed values rise, and owners of those homes and businesses will see taxes increase next year. Others who didn't see market values rise for next year will actually pay a few cents less in municipal taxes in 2017 despite the city collecting about
State aid, known as Local Government Aid, will provide just less than
"We're a service organization," Hentges said. "Sixty percent of our expenditures in the general fund are police, fire, street workers, etc. That drives most of our costs."
Energy costs also are rising, something that is impacting most city operations including the utility funds financed separately from the general fund and totaling nearly
Following opposition from some council members, a proposed 3 percent hike in the street-lighting fee was dropped from the budget. The remaining rate hikes, though, will still generate just less than
The county
"One of the first items driving it is just growth in the county as far as new construction," said Administrator
Meyer said the owner of an average residential property in the county -- valued at
Growth in the workforce in the
"We've also seen our health insurance costs going up and inflationary pressure, increases in medical and public assistance," he said.
In addition to the growing property tax collections, the county is budgeting to draw a considerable amount --
The parking ramp behind the government center in
The county also will use about
One big project will be the extension of
"It'll be a busy construction year," Meyer said.
The schools
The district's 2017 collections are expected to increase 2.9 percent to nearly
There are three primary contributors to the increase, Kolander said.
Student enrollment is increasing, thus allowing the district to collect a bit more in the many levies that are determined by enrollment.
A new funding formula for building maintenance both provides additional state funding and allows the district to levy more local dollars. The increases are being phased in over three years and 2017 is the second year.
The main operating levy includes a voter-approved inflationary increase each year. This levy will expire in 2018 and district leaders will decide in coming months whether to hold a referendum next November and whether to ask voters to renew or increase the operating levy.
Staff writers
___
(c)2016 The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.)
Visit The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) at www.mankatofreepress.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties looks to cut ties with SilverSneakers
Insurer Lists Area’s Chief Maladies
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News