St. Cloud Residents Could See $250 Tax Increase Next Year

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- Your property taxes will go up next year under a proposed budget by St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson. He laid out the city's preliminary budget in front of the city council on Monday night.

Anderson is asking for a 4.49 percent increase in the property tax rate for 2026 to help start addressing the city's funding gaps.

There's two impacts this year on the levy, the first is this one which I would consider to be operational in terms of how we do things, and the second is the fire referendum.  So, a 4.49 percent increase in the tax rate on a $200,000 home is about $6 a month, or $72 a year.

The voter-approved fire levy is an additional $180 a year on a $200,000 home. So, combining the two increases, the property tax increase on a $200,000 home would be just over $250 a year.

Read More: Election 2024: St. Cloud City Election Results |

Anderson says the increased revenue is needed because the city has no reserves available to address emergencies like natural disasters. The goal is to set aside 40 percent of the city's annual budget, but in 2026, St. Cloud is projected to dip below that number. The reserve fund balance has been decreasing for the last 15 years.

He says the additional revenue is also necessary to address the backlog of deferred maintenance, equipment replacement, and outdate technology. Fifty-eight-percent of the city's equipment and vehicles are overdue for replacement.

Anderson says cutting staff is not the answer.

The reality is, if we attempted to cut our way out of it by eliminating staff, you are probably talking 25 to 30 people, reallocating what they do to somebody else, becoming less efficient, adding stress to the organization, and having those folks quit.

Anderson says the city is facing a budget shortfall of $3.2 million. The property tax increase would bring in an additional nearly $4.9 million in revenue.

About 80 percent of the additional money would go to personnel.

Under the preliminary budget, the city portion of the property taxes on a $200,000 home would go from $1,006 this year to $1,258 next year.

Anderson is proposing the general fund budget increase from $66.8 million this year to $75.8 million next year - a 13.4 percent increase.

He describes this as a five-year plan to rebuild reserves and address city challenges.

Now that the mayor has unveiled his prelimary budget proposal, the city council will need to approve the final budget by the end of December.  The budget cannot go any higher than the proposal, but it can go lower.