St. Paul homeowners can expect one of the largest property tax increases in recent memory next year, and the city’s poorest neighborhoods will be hit especially hard.
The market values of residential properties in Ramsey County are up nearly 5% over last year, while apartments and commercial buildings are down about 2-3% and agricultural land is down nearly 17%.
Those changing values mean homeowners must cover a greater share of the property tax burden at a time when the city, county and school district are planning big increases to their tax levies. Meanwhile, about $1 out of every $7 of market value in the city is a property that doesn’t pay taxes, such as a college, government building, church or other nonprofit.
“Declining commercial and apartment values are shifting the property tax burden to residential taxpayers,” County Auditor Tracy West told the County Board of Commissioners recently, “and exempt properties do not generate tax and make up 14% of the county’s market value.”
The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners has discussed raising its property tax levy by 9.75%, and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter wants a 5.3% increase for the city.
St. Paul Public Schools will release its tax plan in the coming weeks, but whatever they do will be in addition to a ballot referendum that asks voters to pay another $37.2 million per year for 10 years.
Neighborhood differences
Each year, Ramsey County’s tax office details the cost increases facing the owners of median homes in suburban cities and St. Paul neighborhoods. So far, their analysis is limited to the cost of just the county’s own 9.75% increase.
According to a Tuesday presentation to the Board of Commissioners, St. Paul home values are rising fastest in the most affordable neighborhoods, which means they’ll see the largest tax increases, at least as a percentage of what they’re paying.
The county levy alone will cost the median Frogtown homeowner another $228, or 7.3%, with similar impacts in Payne/Phalen, the North End and West Side.
Como, Hamline-Midway, Dayton’s Bluff and Summit/University homeowners won’t pay quite that much.
And Sunray/Battle Creek/Highwood and St. Anthony Park will see some of the lowest tax hikes in the city, while downtown owners may even see a decrease.
The picture throughout the rest of the county is more mixed. The wealthiest city, North Oaks, has seen a county-high 7.6% increase in its property values, which means about a $900 increase in what the median home pays for the county levy. On the low end, the typical North St. Paul home will pay just $62 more.
The actual tax increases for homeowners will be much greater than the county analysis shows, as Ramsey County’s levy accounts for just 35% of what property owners pay in property taxes.
Levy plans announced so far — including the city, county and school referendum, but not the regular St. Paul Public Schools levy or smaller taxing authorities — will cost the median St. Paul resident an additional $620 next year.
The county will add the St. Paul levy to its analysis next week and will incorporate other taxing jurisdictions once final numbers are certified Sept. 30.
Falling commercial values
The slide of commercial values is nothing new, and some of the steepest have been in downtown St. Paul. The U.S. Bank Center on 5th Street has seen its estimated market value slide from $21.7 million in 2024 to $20 million this year, and down to an estimated $14 million for the purpose of calculating taxes in 2026.
Corresponding property taxes for U.S. Bank Center will have fallen precipitously from $729,000 last year to an estimated $495,000 next year.
Downtown St. Paul commercial properties have lost about 11% of their value from one year to the next, compared to almost 2% in Ramsey County’s commercial properties as a whole.
The 3M headquarters on McKnight Road in Maplewood carried an estimated market value of $98 million in 2024, which fell to $93.6 million over the past year, according to the county. That value will fall to $89.8 million next year.
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Acorn Mini-Storage on Cleveland Avenue in Roseville — formerly a HOM Furniture store — has seen its estimated market value drop from $7.43 million to $6.7 million in two years.
While apartment values in the county have dropped another 3%, according to County Assessor Pat Chapman, “We’re finally getting to a place where the market has enough units to make values level off.”
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