Budget Decisions

We have a list of budget projections that will be discussed with the Council in May. We have received the property tax projections and are working to finalized the plan to ride out the next two years of declining property values.

Some communities and taxing entities will be looking for dramatic tax levy increases to make up for lost revenue - Isanti is not one of those communities. The idea is out there that a house who's value has dropped should pay the same tax it did two years ago.

This means that if you were paying $2,500 in taxes last year and your home value goes down 10%, some want you to pay the same $2,500. That my friends is a tax levy increase. If your value goes down you should pay less in taxes. Now this makes it tough for us who are responsible to balance the budget and provide good services but that is what must be done.

When values were skyrocketing no one was handing money back to the taxpayer and now that they are going down no one should expect to hike tax rates to make up the difference.