Dakota County grappling with a potential rise in property taxes

On Broadway in Eagan, people were gathering for National Night Out, but for us, they were talking about property taxes.

“No, no one likes to pay more in taxes; it’s a necessary evil,” declares Kim Linarte, who’s lived in the area for nearly three decades. “If they’re transparent and they’re communicating and what they’re spending money on, I think that’s the important part that people know where their money is going.”

Dakota County leaders are now mulling over the property tax rate for next year.

An internal budget presentation obtained by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS shows four scenarios.

One is upwards of 29% — a $255 hike for a median home here, worth about $400,000.

The good news?

Those numbers are already dropping.

“We start with here’s a projection of what we think when we started in February,” explains County Manager Heidi Walsch. “So as the year goes on, we get better and better data, gets closer and clo...