With Ramsey County’s board debating a 4.75 percent levy increase for next year, you may wonder how that compares with nearby counties.

A Pioneer Press analysis determined that compared with its contiguous metro-area counties, Ramsey is in the middle of the pack. And — like those same counties across the metro — they’ve been substantially boosting the rate of their levy increases in recent years.

THE NUMBERS

Yes, these may not all be apples we’re comparing — different counties have different needs. So talking about percentage increases is more appropriate than dollar amounts: comparing a county’s own needs with those same needs, just a few years ago.

A tally of the past ten years of levy increases shows that Ramsey County has raised its levy an average of 2.3 percent annually from 2010 to 2019.

That’s about the same as Hennepin County — actually, Hennepin came in a wee bit higher, at 2.32 percent — but still significantly higher than Dakota and Anoka counties, who raised their levies an average of 0.9 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, in that time frame.

Still, the area leader in levy increases is indisputably Washington County, which raised its levy an annual average of 2.5 percent over the past 10 years.

That’s history. What about next year’s proposed hikes?

As of last week, all the proposals are in.

Again, Ramsey County wound up in the middle — tied with Hennepin at 4.75 percent. Bigger than Dakota County’s 2.9 percent, but less than Anoka’s 4.97 percent and Washington’s 5.9 percent.

If those new totals seem high, there’s a reason: in the most recent years — now that the recession is over — levies have been going up at a much higher rate across the metro area. ­

In the post-recession years, from 2011 through about 2015, counties universally kept levy increases low — at, near or sometimes even below zero percent. Bargaining agreements called for little or no salary increases.

“It was one of two things: being cognizant of the fact that there’s a recession … and boards trying to be responsive to those that were suffering the impact most,” said Matt Hilgart, a tax and general government policy analyst with the Association of Minnesota Counties.

Then, around 2016, counties started making up for lost time (and dollars) — increasing levies above the inflation rate.

Talking about Ramsey County specifically, Hilgart noted, “Ramsey is unique in that it’s the second-largest county and has huge needs.

“That being said, unlike Hennepin, Ramsey is extremely limited in their tax base. They’re the smallest county geographically, with lots of property tax exemptions: all those government buildings, religious institutions, universities, nonprofits …

“Hennepin has a much larger tax base geographically, in miles. And a much healthier tax base.”

THE BEST AND WORST — AND WHY

Still, compared with Ramsey, Washington County’s proposed levy increase for 2020 is over a percentage point higher, at 5.9 percent — the highest of the five counties studied.

Why the big jump?

Deputy Administrator Kevin Corbid points to the county’s fast growth.

Washington County is the third-fastest-growing county in the state, adding about 1.8 percent this year. The increasing population increases the need for services — roads, human services, parks and library use, he said.

For the same reason, Washington County has had not just the highest proposed increase for next year but the highest average increase over the past 10 years of the five metro-area counties studied.

It peaked last year, when the county increased its levy by 6.9 percent — the largest increase of any of the five counties studied over the past decade.

That does not mean Washington County’s tax rate is going up. It is actually going down — by 2.8 percent next year.

That is possible because the value of taxable property is rising faster than the taxes.

The value of taxable property will rise 8 percent next year — more than the 5.9 percent increase in collected taxes. So each property owner can pay a slightly lower rate per $1,000 in the value of property.

When tax rates drop but home values surge, what is the net effect?

The owner of a median-priced $295,200 home will pay $32 more in 2020, a 4 percent hike.

But that is not all of the taxes collected. The county set up a quarter-cent sales tax in 2017 to pay its share of the Gold Line, the proposed rapid-transit bus line from Woodbury to St. Paul.

The county will pay $27 million toward the Gold Line next year, money raised in 2019 and in previous years.

DEBT-FREE LIVING

So what does the county with the smallest taxes and levy increases — Dakota County — do that others don’t? It’s not like it’s small in size: it’s the metro area’s third-largest, behind Ramsey and Hennepin.

Step one (and it’s a big one): be debt-free.

County administrators and commissioners made a conscious effort — even during the recession — to trim their operational budget. And they put all those savings (often eight-digit figures) toward paying down the county’s debt.

By 2016, they did it.

Since then, all of Dakota County’s capital projects have been paid for in cold, hard — and interest-free — cash.

And that ongoing operational surplus — $9 million in 2017, and $6 million last year — is now ferreted away into a rainy day fund, or put toward those capitol projects.

“We consider what we want a levy to be. And then we figure out the priorities … instead of starting out with this great big wish list and whittling it down,” said Dakota County Board Chair Liz Workman.

Yes, the Dakota County Board has been conservative in recent years. It helps that their county manager, Matt Smith, used to be the state’s revenue commissioner as well as St. Paul’s finance director. Related Articles St. Paul man poured poisonous chemicals on ex-wife in Roseville park, according to attempted murder charges

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On top of tackling the debt, the county has become “self-insured,” rather than having its employees rely on commercial health insurance. That alleviated potential double-digit premium spikes.

Some things — like labor costs — are hard to trim, Smith contends. Since the labor market is regional, and counties are very competitive with each other, the pay for jobs from jailers to social workers to public health workers are hard to touch.

Still, Workman said, “It’s other people’s money and we make darn sure we take care in how we use it.”