Dear Neighbors,
I have heard from many of you that are shocked by soaring property values here in the Northland. Your property valuation may go up 30%, 40%, 50%, and in some cases even over 60%, depending on exactly where you’re located. Because of exploding property values, many of you could be looking at a significantly higher property tax bill.
This is creating a whole host of issues for folks in our area as families that have owned property for generations and those on fixed incomes may struggle to pay new property tax rates that could be on the way.
I am authoring a bill in the House, Senator Eichorn is carrying the bill in the Senate, that would alleviate some of the tax burden that could be coming when counties set their levy amounts later this year. The bill will be formally introduced next week.
The bill does four specific things:
- Prohibit local governments from raising their levies by more than 3% per year
- Make changes to the homestead credit
- Increase maximum refunds by $500
- Reduce all copays by 5%
- Increase the top threshold to $155,000
- Make changes to the targeting refund
- Lower the percentage the taxes need to increase by from 12 to 10 percent
- Increase the maximum refund from $1,000 to $2,000
- Protecting your right to Homestead
- Maximum exclusion: $42,980 (from $30,400) for a home valued at $107,450 (from $76,000)
- Phase-out rate: 9%
- Maximum home value to receive any exclusion: $585,000 (from $413,800)
We must respect the critical role of local government control. That’s why the bill is intended to be a short-term solution and would sunset after two years. During that time, the market will have cooled off, or we will find the long-term solutions needed to address these issues.
To reiterate, I hear your concerns loud and clear and will continue working here in St. Paul to address this issue. While property tax rates are determined by local governments, I am hopeful that we will find a solution here in St. Paul to help alleviate your concerns.
Staying in Touch
I will do my best to keep you updated on what’s happening in St. Paul. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-4936 or via email at rep.spencer.igo@house.mn.
Have a great day,
Spencer