County board approves 2018-2019 budget
The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved a biennial budget of $713,986,394 in 2018 and $736,311,950 in 2019 during their Dec. 12 meeting. This represents an increase of $22,803,444 (3.3 percent) from 2017 to 2018 and an increase of $22,325,556 (3.1 percent) from 2018 to 2019.
On Aug. 8, 2017, County Manager Julie Kleinschmidt proposed a 2018 budget of $703,989,334 million. The roughly $10 million increase between that draft and the final approved budget is primarily attributable to a revision in projected revenue from an additional 1/4-cent sales tax for transit development.
Commissioners set the 2018 maximum property tax levy on Sept. 26, 2017 at $305,199,197 - representing an increase of 4.3 percent over 2017. Property taxes will continue to make up about 42 percent of revenues in the 2018-2019 budget.
Public hearings on the proposed property tax levy and budget were held on Sept. 12 and Nov. 27, 2017. Videos and other materials from the hearings are available at ramseycounty.us/publichearings.