Hennepin County Approves Property Tax Increase

St. Louis Park MN

22 September, 2021

1:29 PM

Description

MINNEAPOLIS — The Hennepin County board Tuesday approved a property tax increase of 3.5 percent. The new tax levy is expected to bring in an additional $899.6 million to the county. The increase is a part of administrator David Hough's proposed $2.1 billion budget for the county. The 2022 budget is $6.5 million dollars more than the 2021 budget, according to a news release. This year's budget priorities include: Pandemic responsePandemic recoveryDisparity reductionClimate actionCapital budge According to officials, specifical capital projects in this budget will include: $72 million in investment toward road, bridge, light rail and trail infrastructure $52 million for environment and energy infrastructure, including an anaerobic digester $42 million in investment for law, safety and justice facilities and infrastructure $95 million toward facilities supporting the Health and Human Services lines of business including a parking ramp expansion for Hennepin Healthcare (Hennepin County Medical Center) $72 million toward other county operations "Community need has never been clearer than during the COVID-19 pandemic," Hough said in a statement. "Intentionally using federal pandemic funds to support the work in disparity reduction domains is critical to ensure that we are not allowing COVID to continue to widen the gap between white residents and residents of color." Hough also noted that "while the county's residential real estate market remains strong, the commercial and industrial market continues to be challenged by the impacts of COVID-19."