Sherburne County Mission: To provide the necessary services in a cost effective manner to support quality of life for Sherburne County citizens

Latest demographic data indicate a 3% growth in population 2010 to 2014 (88,499 to 91,126) New housing permits continue to grow: a low of 83 in 2011 to 262 in 2014 and the trend is continuing into 2015 The County added approximately $63M in new construction to the tax base for 2016 The average residential taxable value has increased from $148,100 in 2015 to $159,400 in 2016

The budget contains a request for the addition of a 0.5 FTE in the Attorney’s Office and P/T positions to support the 2016 general election Costs for the implementation of a classification and compensation study that was completed in 2015 along with a 1% general wage scale increase. One time additional debt refinancing costs of about $125,000. However, the refinancing will result in significant future annual savings.

Savings achieved by changing to a workers compensation self-insurance model in 2016 Investment income was increased by $200,000 and County Program Aid (CPA) increased approximately $63,000 Revenues are increasing from both the recorded document and building permit fees. Several tax abatement agreements expired with the 2015 calendar year Staff reorganizations continue to occur countywide. The net result is an overall budget recommendation of $79,768,425

County staff is recommending a 2016 Countywide levy of $42,915,694 an increase of 1.4% over the 2015 levy. Reduction of $62,500 from the preliminary levy amount set in September. Recommending a Regional Rail levy of $1,622,833 = 1.6% reduction from the 2015 Rail levy. The net impact of the two levies results in a 1.29% countywide levy increase. Our preliminary levy is ranked 74 th per capita statewide out of 87 counties.

Average Minnesota preliminary increases for 2016 School Districts = 7.5% Cities = preliminary increase of 5.2% Counties = preliminary increase of 3.7% Townships = preliminary increase of 2.4%

Due to the increase in market value, the recommended budget would reduce the County tax rate approximately 3.0% when compared to Based on the valuation trends, the average home owner would see a $2.80 per month increase to the county portion of their tax bill. On the other hand, agricultural land and commercial/industrial valuations were held constant or actually decreased on average resulting in tax reductions for 2016.

If you have questions in the future please call: Assessor’s Office Auditor/Treasurer’s Office Administrator’s Office