Minnesota statewide property taxes could grow by nearly $1 billion again next year

Alex Derosier

For the second year in a row, property owners in Minnesota could end up paying close to a billion more in additional taxes if the maximum approved levies from cities, counties, school boards and other districts hold, state revenue officials said Thursday.

Inflation, unfunded mandates from state government, and federal cuts have been major drivers of rising costs for municipal governments in recent years, local leaders say, and the maximum potential increases for 2027 reported by the Minnesota Department of Revenue show the trend hasn’t eased.

Matt Hilgart, a government policy analyst with the Association of Minnesota Counties, said counties face headwinds with upcoming cuts to Medicaid and food stamps from the 2025 federal tax bill, sometimes referred to as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” and new program requirements from the state that don’t always come with additional funding.

“If more is expected for counties to pick up these costs, we have very few means beyond the property tax mechanism to do so,” he said. “It’s not like we have an option not to deliver those services. Counties feel between a rock and a hard place of both not being able to address some of the costs … but still being expected to pay for them.”