OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Ramsey County Board Workshop: 2026 Assessed Values for 2027 Payable Taxes - April 21, 2026

Board of Commissioners & AuthoritiesTuesday, April 21, 2026
BodyRamsey County, Minnesota
SessionBoard of Commissioners & Authorities
DateTuesday, April 21, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:08

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

0:11

Uh to the Williams Accounting Board Workshop.

0:13

Uh today's workshop will be a presentation on 2026 assessed values for 2027 payable taxes.

0:21

Cursive reminder that this board workshop is recorded and is live streamed on Zoom webinar.

0:26

There will be no votes taken during this workshop.

0:29

Uh let's start with introduction of commissioners and presenters around the table and then the rest of the room.

0:35

I'll start.

0:35

Uh Dear Sim McMurtry, Racing Common Commissioner District Three.

0:39

We'll put this one.

0:40

My chanson, Commissioner for District Six.

0:44

Mary John McGuire, Commissioner District 2.

0:47

Tara Jevinsing, Commissioner District 1.

0:49

Lynn Becker County Manager.

0:50

Carrie Collins, Deputy County Manager, Economic Growth and Community Investment.

0:57

Corey Erickson, Deputy County Assessor.

0:59

Kelly Miller, County Commissioner District 7.

1:04

Alexandre.

1:09

Gracie West, Director of Petris Community Audit.

1:14

Yeah, I think she's advised management subs.

1:16

Karen Francois, Deputy County Manager, Community Services and Supports.

1:21

Formerly not in the sense.

1:31

Andrew Greene WG.

1:33

Yeah.

1:33

Christy Pass.

1:34

Can you handle as well in the studio prison with uh share done soon too?

1:44

Wonderful.

1:45

Thank you, everyone.

1:46

Uh today's workshop is uh new format for the assessor's office to give the assessed values for 2026 as the start of the budget process for 2027.

1:57

Uh we will hear about how the county's residents can uh can respond to property value notices and how they can appeal.

2:03

Uh the county assessor will talk about property tax property class shifts for 2026 assessment for the taxable for the taxes payable in 2027.

2:13

Uh tax relief resources for residents will be shared at the end of the presentation.

2:18

And I will now hand it off to the presenters to take off the workshop.

2:22

I'll start.

2:23

Uh thank you, Mr.

2:24

Chair Commissioners, and do want to acknowledge my colleague, Deputy County Manager Friends for her um helpful transition here.

2:32

And um, we'll be talking a little bit about the organizational alignment and it's uh the assessor's office connection economic development momentarily, but um we did our introductions.

2:42

I think maybe uh we'll move forward to the workshop goals today.

2:50

You gotta click and then some things.

2:52

Yep.

2:53

And then there we go.

2:54

There we go.

2:56

Um, and so we'll we'll forego this one.

2:58

Uh we'll talk as mentioned a little about the organizational alignment, and then uh director Chapman and Deputy Director Erickson will walk us through uh the appeal timeline.

3:08

Uh we're going to um slightly bombard you with a number of graphics, and we just want to compel you to, you know, sometimes these can get confusing.

3:16

Um, we're going to be comparing and contrasting a bit, so feel free to ask questions as we go along.

3:21

And then um again provide available resources to residents about appealing um their tax value assessment.

3:28

So if we'll move forward, this is a little bit of a blurry and complicated um graphic um gratitudes of AI, uh, but we wanted to show the connection between economic development and the assessor's office.

3:41

We talk a lot about the economic development growth cycle.

3:44

And as we think about organizational alignment and why the assessor's office fits so nicely into economic growth and community investment, is because there really is a symbiotic relationship between economic development, how we invest in our redevelopment projects or our real estate within Ramsay County, and how we utilize the assessor's office to not just be reactive in terms of what is the market doing, but for us to be able to review kind of the trends, the valuation trends across tax classifications, so that in turn we can be strategic in terms of how we invest.

4:18

So the assessor's office really does play both a reactive and a proactive role in terms of not just kind of being a reflection of what the market's doing, but also allowing us to really be strategic in terms of what's happening with tax shifts within our local economy and what does that mean in terms of how we build out programming services and um invested projects.

4:39

And so um really there's the a complicated kind of cycle here, uh, but just wanted to kind of show the nature of that moving on.

4:48

And so uh at the start of this year, uh the assessor's office moved into economic growth and community investment.

4:54

Um it has been kind of going on for a while that director Chapman and Director Josh Folson have been having routine meetings.

5:02

Um, oftentimes when we meet with prospective uh businesses or developers, you know, they talk a lot about the value of property because that helps to inform you know acquisition prices and helps to negotiate real estate.

5:18

It also plays a significant role in terms of the types of financial tools available for economic development projects.

5:25

And so uh this has been a pretty seamless transition in terms of AGCI.

5:30

Um, it's really exciting that we're doing this workshop today because it builds on a lot of the economic development and kind of real estate momentum we've seen in past presentations.

5:41

Um you've had both housing stability and community and economic development before you to talk about how we invest in the housing continuum.

5:49

It obviously has a huge impact in terms of the composition of our tax classes.

5:55

Uh, we've even taken a look at our arena portfolio.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Public Engagement████████████████████████24%
Fiscal Sustainability████████████████████████24%
Procedural█████5%
Public Safety███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Ramsey County Board Workshop: 2026 Assessed Values for 2027 Payable Taxes - April 21, 2026

The Ramsey County Board held a workshop on April 21, 2026, to receive a presentation from the Assessor's Office on the 2026 assessed values that will be used for 2027 payable taxes. The meeting included detailed discussion of market value trends, tax capacity shifts, new construction, and resources available to residents for appealing their property values. No votes were taken during the workshop.

Discussion Items

  • Presentation Overview: Deputy County Manager Carrie Collins and Deputy Assessor Corey Erickson presented the 2026 assessment, emphasizing the connection between economic development and the assessor's role. Total estimated market value reached an all-time high of $78 billion (taxable), with tax capacity also at a record $950 million. Residential property values showed approximately 1% growth (flat compared to prior years), while commercial and industrial values grew modestly. New construction countywide was $760 million, with notable apartment and exempt property projects.
  • Tax Classification Shifts: The presentation illustrated how property classification affects tax capacity. Residential properties make up 68% of taxable market value but only 60% of tax capacity due to a preferential rate, while commercial properties (10.3% of value) generate 17% of capacity. The '4D' low-income housing classification was highlighted as having the most beneficial rate in the state, resulting in a disproportionately low share of tax capacity.
  • Commissioner Questions: Several commissioners raised concerns about the burden on residents with fixed incomes, the need for benchmarking against comparable counties, and the potential for setting goals for a balanced tax base (e.g., mix of residential, commercial, industrial). Commissioners also inquired about tax-increment financing (TIF) and the impact of exempt properties (e.g., government, nonprofit). The assessor noted that a more detailed breakdown of exempt properties and tax capacity forgone would be provided.
  • Resident Resources: The presentation outlined the appeal timeline (deadline June 1, 2026), the open book process, and the availability of property tax refunds through the state. Commissioners warned about private companies (e.g., Ownwell) offering to help with appeals for a fee, stressing that the county's process is free.

Key Outcomes

  • The board received the 2026 assessed values information as input to the 2027 budget process.
  • Follow-up items include: providing disaggregated data on exempt properties and tax capacity (including county-owned land), exploring benchmarks with other urban counties, and possibly setting goals for tax base composition as part of the next Economic Growth and Community Investment plan.
  • The next workshop (scheduled for the following week) will focus on TIF districts and related financial tools.
  • Commissioners encouraged residents to contact the assessor's office (651-266-2131) with questions and to be aware of potential scams.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome, welcome, welcome. Uh to the Williams Accounting Board Workshop. Uh today's workshop will be a presentation on 2026 assessed values for 2027 payable taxes. Cursive reminder that this board workshop is recorded and is live streamed on Zoom webinar. There will be no votes taken during this workshop. Uh let's start with introduction of commissioners and presenters around the table and then the rest of the room. I'll start. Uh Dear Sim McMurtry, Racing Common Commissioner District Three. We'll put this one. My chanson, Commissioner for District Six. Mary John McGuire, Commissioner District 2. Tara Jevinsing, Commissioner District 1. Lynn Becker County Manager. Carrie Collins, Deputy County Manager, Economic Growth and Community Investment. Corey Erickson, Deputy County Assessor. Kelly Miller, County Commissioner District 7. Alexandre. Gracie West, Director of Petris Community Audit. Yeah, I think she's advised management subs. Karen Francois, Deputy County Manager, Community Services and Supports. Formerly not in the sense. Andrew Greene WG. Yeah. Christy Pass. Can you handle as well in the studio prison with uh share done soon too? Wonderful. Thank you, everyone. Uh today's workshop is uh new format for the assessor's office to give the assessed values for 2026 as the start of the budget process for 2027. Uh we will hear about how the county's residents can uh can respond to property value notices and how they can appeal. Uh the county assessor will talk about property tax property class shifts for 2026 assessment for the taxable for the taxes payable in 2027. Uh tax relief resources for residents will be shared at the end of the presentation. And I will now hand it off to the presenters to take off the workshop. I'll start. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair Commissioners, and do want to acknowledge my colleague, Deputy County Manager Friends for her um helpful transition here. And um, we'll be talking a little bit about the organizational alignment and it's uh the assessor's office connection economic development momentarily, but um we did our introductions. I think maybe uh we'll move forward to the workshop goals today. You gotta click and then some things. Yep. And then there we go. There we go. Um, and so we'll we'll forego this one. Uh we'll talk as mentioned a little about the organizational alignment, and then uh director Chapman and Deputy Director Erickson will walk us through uh the appeal timeline. Uh we're going to um slightly bombard you with a number of graphics, and we just want to compel you to, you know, sometimes these can get confusing. Um, we're going to be comparing and contrasting a bit, so feel free to ask questions as we go along. And then um again provide available resources to residents about appealing um their tax value assessment. So if we'll move forward, this is a little bit of a blurry and complicated um graphic um gratitudes of AI, uh, but we wanted to show the connection between economic development and the assessor's office. We talk a lot about the economic development growth cycle. And as we think about organizational alignment and why the assessor's office fits so nicely into economic growth and community investment, is because there really is a symbiotic relationship between economic development, how we invest in our redevelopment projects or our real estate within Ramsay County, and how we utilize the assessor's office to not just be reactive in terms of what is the market doing, but for us to be able to review kind of the trends, the valuation trends across tax classifications, so that in turn we can be strategic in terms of how we invest. So the assessor's office really does play both a reactive and a proactive role in terms of not just kind of being a reflection of what the market's doing, but also allowing us to really be strategic in terms of what's happening with tax shifts within our local economy and what does that mean in terms of how we build out programming services and um invested projects.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com