Plymouth City Council Approves No Increase To 2012 Property Tax Levy

For the third consecutive year in a row, the city of Plymouth's budget has been reduced and the tax levy not increased.

The Plymouth City Council approved the 2012 budget and 2012-2016 Capital Improvement Program at its last meeting of 2011 this month. The council did not discuss the budget nor did anyone from the public make any comments at the meeting Dec.

Plymouth City Manager Laurie Ahrens presented information on the budget. She said the city has received about 35 calls about property taxes, but nearly all were related to the new Market Value Homestead Exclusion program that has replaced the Market Value Homestead Credit program of the past.

"One of the most common questions we get is why their neighbor's taxes differ so greatly than their own,"Ahrens said. "This has been most difficult year I can recall for generalizing what is happening with tax bills."

Thouth the median value Plymouth home for taxes payable in 2012 is $260,300, it is first year that Ahrens hasn't been able to say "here is the average property and typical taxes." She said she can't do that with so much change happening.  

Job losses, home foreclosures, a wide variance in changing residential property values, the impact of commercial/industrial property values shifting, the impact of the Exclusion program and the effect of fiscal disparities are all part of the shiting tax base.

"Plymouth has had less foreclosures and steadier home rates so we get more impact from the state and county level," Ahrens said. 

A silver lining for the city with the Exclusion program is that it gives staff more stability to the budgeting process, she said.

With the prevous way things worked for the city, it lost more than a half million dollars per year in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

According to the city, the 2012 general fund budget includes an increase in expenditures of $428,791. The budget does not include new services or service level increases, but is required to maintain current service levels and debt levies. Increased costs were because of inflation, wage adjustments for contract settlements and sustainability of the city's internal service funds. The increase in expenditures was able to be offset with an increase in revenues primarily from growth in development.

Ahrens said city staff reorganization helped increase efficiences. More than 30 positions have been eliminated since 2009, which equates to about 10 percent of the full time equivalent positions.

"We have 248 full time equivalent employees, the same number we had 10 years ago," she said.

Plymouth residents' property taxes are split up between several factions: 22 percent goes to the city, 33 percent to the school district you live in, 37 percent to Hennepin County and the remaining 8 percent goes to other entities like the Metropolitan Council.