Twin Cities counties are looking at next year's budgets — and setting their tax increases.

Hennepin and Ramsey in recent weeks set 5.5% and 4.75% maximum tax levy increases, respectively.

That doesn't mean you'll get a letter from the county saying your property taxes are going up by exactly that amount. Rather, it represents the maximum increase in the total amount the county can raise from property taxes.

It doesn't include the amounts cities, schools districts or other entities plan to levy this year. For instance, Minneapolis has already proposed raising its levy by 8.1% and St. Paul by 7.9%.

How much an individual property owner's tax goes up (or down) depends on:

• What kind of property they own and the overall change in value for that class of property.
• The change in value of their individual property.
• The change in tax levies from other taxing jurisdictions, for example, cities and school districts, in addition to the county.

Property owners get notices of their estimated taxes in the mail in the fall and final tax notices go out in the spring, when property owners may appeal.

Ramsey County Board Chair Victoria Reinhardt lamented the increasing share of the county budget covered by property taxes as state aid to local government has declined.

"That's shifted so that it's more on property taxes," she said. "When we're fighting up at the Capitol to get funds for services being provided, it's to help alleviate property taxes."

Minnesota law requires local governments to set a maximum increase for property tax levies by the end of September, with final approval by the end of the year.

Several metro counties have already acted: Carver County has approved a maximum levy increase of 8.9%, while Dakota County approved a 9.92% boost and Scott County set a 6.8% increase. Anoka and Washington have yet to set theirs.

Hennepin County

The Hennepin County Board on Tuesday approved a maximum increase of the local property tax levy of 5.5% to support a nearly $3 billion proposed budget for the coming year.

Local property taxes will pay for about $1 billion of the county's $2.5 billion operating budget and $463 million capital budget. Overall, county spending will climb 3.6% from 2024, or almost $87 million.

About $55 million of the new money will come from property taxes and the rest from savings. County officials noted federal pandemic assistance has been spent and tapping savings will help make up any short-term gaps without impacting long-term finances.

County leaders are dedicating $10 million from the levy increase toward covering the growing cost of uncompensated care at HCMC. The county will provide $38 million for uncompensated care costs at the safety-net hospital, which is overseen by commissioners and the Hennepin Healthcare System board.

Administrator David Hough told the County Board that much of the rest of the new spending is directed at employee salaries and benefits. The county workforce is expected to remain flat at nearly 10,000 employees.

The proposed capital budget includes $100 million for the Blue Line Light Rail extension. Another $45 million is slated for projects at HCMC, including a new parking ramp that will help make room for the eventual construction of an inpatient hospital tower.

Commissioners will meet with department leaders over the next two months to work on specifics of the 2025 budget before approving it in mid-December.

Ramsey County

Ramsey County officials pitched a 4.75% maximum levy increase for 2025, as expected, late last month.

Ramsey County is on a rare biennial budget cycle, meaning it approved its 2025 budget last year, anticipating this year's 4.75% increase. There's a caveat, though: Then-County Manager Ryan O'Connor said at the time that cannabis sales tax could lower the 2025 levy. It didn't, former Interim County Manager Johanna Berg said last month, because the county doesn't have a sense of what that revenue will look like yet.

The proposed 2025 supplemental budget is $848.5 million and would represent a 5% increase from last year if approved in December. That's slightly larger than the 2025 budget approved last year, largely because of grants the county accepted to cover therapeutic youth treatment homes and violence prevention services. Property taxes fund about 46% of Ramsey County's 2025 budget.

Finance director Susan Earle characterized the increase as getting the county back to normal after it held the levy more steady during the pandemic, then raised it 6.75% in 2024.

In a presentation to the board, Assessor Pat Chapman said that on the whole in 2024, residential properties saw modest gains in value, while commercial property was flat and industrial and apartment property saw small declines. That could mean a shift in the tax burden toward residential properties.

The median St. Paul home is expected to see a $196 increase in taxes, which includes projected taxes from the county, city and other taxing jurisdictions.

The County Board is scheduled to approve the 2025 supplemental budget and levy on Dec. 17.

Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect when property taxes can be appealed in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.