Ramsey County officials are proposing increases of 9.75% in 2026 and 7.5% in 2027 to the property tax levy as part of the county’s budget.
The proposed budget totals $929.25 million in 2026 – a 6.57% increase from the 2025 supplemental budget of $848.5 million. The 2027 proposed budget of $968.45 million is a 4.22% increase from 2026.
“County governments cannot operate as if it were business as usual,” said County Manager Ling Becker at Tuesday’s county board meeting. “We are navigating rising costs, limited revenue growth and increasing demand for services, while facing deep uncertainty from federal and state budget pressures. This budget responds directly to those realities.”
About 46% of the county’s proposed budget is funded through property taxes. The rest comes from intergovernmental revenues, charges for services and other sources. The county raised the tax levy 4.75% in 2025, 6.8% in 2024 and 4.5% in 2023.
The average tax increase on a residential median-value home is estimated at a 4.4% increase, or $22 per month according to county officials. The estimated median home value in St. Paul for 2026 is $289,200.
What’s driving this?
The three “drivers” behind the budget are unfunded mandates from the state of Minnesota, employee compensation and “directing resources to our core services and improving our organizational performance,” Becker said.
As part of 2025 supplemental budget discussions, county officials have decided to restructure, with the new system taking effect Jan. 1. This will reduce the size of the county’s Health and Wellness Service Team and sunset the county’s Strategic Team and Information and Public Records Service Team. County departments are currently organized into four Service Teams and a Strategic Team.
Priorities in the proposed budget include Project Bridge which relocates individuals from the Adult Detention Center, which is overcrowded to the Ramsey County Correctional Facility, according to county officials. There’s also the county’s Appropriate Response Initiative, which involves reexamining how it responds to 911 calls, and expanding staffing and training in Child Protection Services.
Staffing positions
The proposed budget includes the reduction of 43 staff positions in areas not considered to have an essential county function, such as its Detox and Withdrawal Management Program which serves around 10 people per day on average. If the proposed budget is approved, the program will be closed as of Jan. 1.
“It’s difficult to hire that type of expertise and there are lots of community providers within the metro area that provide detox and withdrawal management successfully to folks,” said Alexandra Kotze, county director of finance. “As part of this, we’re going to spend the next few months working to close down and make sure that the people who need that service are successfully transitioned.”
Additional staffing will include 110 full-time employees in 2026.
That includes the 80 full-time employees hired to help with backlogs affecting access to Medicaid-funded services, and 30.5 full-time employees in 2027.
More information
County service teams will hold budget presentations throughout September. Community members will be able to provide feedback on the proposed budget during public hearings Sept. 22 and Dec. 11 before its expected approval by the county board on Dec. 16.
For more information on those presentations, visit ramseycounty.us/content/2026-27-budget-presentations.
To learn more about the proposed budget, go to ramseycounty.us/your-government/budget-finance
To learn more about property tax relief, visit revenue.state.mn.us/property-tax-refund.
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