Newsmakers: Hennepin County Commissioner Anderson Explains Reasons for Tax Levy Increase
Hennepin County recently finalized its 2025 budget. Commissioner Kevin Anderson recently joined Newsmakers to explain what drove the county’s 7.79 percent levy increase.
“We ended up in a tough spot, we ended up with a 7.79 levy increase, which is higher than I think a lot of us really wanted to be,” said Anderson, who represents District 7.
Anderson pointed to several drivers as the reasons for the levy increase.
“A big part of it was there was a lot of cost shifts happening over this last year from the federal and state governments on to local property taxpayers. A big piece of this that we’re looking ahead at is SNAP benefits and Medicaid benefits,” said Anderson.
Anderson discussed cost shifts from the state and federal government and how those pressures landed on local property taxpayers. He also highlighted the county’s focus on “prevention investments,” expenditures to reduce long-term costs, like providing assessment services for suburbs.
“Providing assessing services for most of the cities gives an overall savings to the taxpayers, but it’s an increased cost to Hennepin County as an entity,” said Anderson.
Another prevention investment that Anderson references is the new youth stabilization center that opened up in December serving Hennepin County youth with mental health and behavioral needs.
“We’re really hopeful that it’s going to pay long-term dividends in having a different alternative to meeting needs of use with mental health crises or addiction or substance use disorders,” said Anderson.
Before the center, many youth experiencing mental health issues wound up in either a hospital or detention center.
See also: Hennepin County Swap-It Event Helps Deck the Halls at a Discount
