WORKSHOP ITEM - Joe Huss, Finance Director
Title
2018 BUDGET - DISCUSSION ON TAX BASE AND ESTABLISHING PRELIMINARY GENERAL FUND BUDGET GUIDELINES
Background
Staff has received initial valuation estimates from the Anoka County Assessor’s Office of properties appraised in the last quarter of 2016. These values will be used to calculate the tax rate for the property tax levy that Council will approve for the 2018 budget. Per the County Assessor, Blaine’s total taxable market value increased about 10.6% over the previous year. Most of the growth (nearly 7.6%) is inflationary and continues to occur in the Residential sector. In a change from the previous year, the Commercial/Industrial sector experienced weak growth, with existing properties seeing a .5% decline and new construction accounting for 3.1% of the total C/I growth.
Blaine continues to lead Anoka County in development, accounting for nearly 34% of all new construction in Anoka County, including over 1/3 of all new single-family residential construction and 37.5% of all new C/I construction. The average residential property value in Blaine increased from $189,700 to $219,100 (15.5%), while the median residential value increased from $165,700 to $188,400 (13.7%)
Taking this growth into consideration, and factoring other tax base adjustments such as Tax Increment Financing Districts and Fiscal Disparities, current estimates indicate that the overall tax levy, including all City and EDA tax levies, could increase about $1.8 million and still yield the same target tax rate of 35.901%.
Recommendation
Staff is seeking Council direction regarding the 2018 preliminary levy and that Council provide further direction and guidelines for staff with respect to the 2018 General Fund Budget.