Minneapolis residents may want to start saving for next year’s property taxes. On Tuesday, the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation voted 4-2 to approve a maximum city levy increase of 11.3% and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s full 5.86% request. Together, the maximum levy increase could top 11.7%.
Board of Estimate and Taxation Commissioner Eric Harris Bernstein said it would avoid “a catastrophic loss of funds” if the board deadlocked and reverted to last year’s levy. Mayor Jacob Frey and Commissioner Steve Brandt voted no, favoring a lower levy.
The City Council will now review the budget and may make cuts. A final number is expected in mid- to late December. The police budget could face pressure after the Minneapolis Police Department acknowledged mismanaging overtime, which Council Member Aisha Chughtai, chair of the council’s budget committee, called “despicable.”
The city is not the only taxing body asking for more. Hennepin County has proposed a $2.993 billion budget with an 8.15% property tax increase, citing reduced state and federal funding. Minneapolis Public Schools, built for 43,000 students but serving 30,000, is expected to seek an increase too.
Those increases do not simply add together. Each one applies to its own share of the tax bill.
Not every property will see the same change. A complicated formula determines each property’s taxes, and owners in neighborhoods where values have risen could see larger increases. In 2026, 3,328 properties saw increases of more than 20%, and Ward 12 had the highest median increase, 13.39%.
These increases arrive as gas averages $4.33 a gallon, fraud continues to surface and grocery prices strain family budgets.
Supporters say the increases are needed to maintain services. “We have to take seriously the cost of underinvesting in our shared resources,” Bernstein told KSTP. The Park Board says its analysis found that Frey’s proposed 2.5% increase for parks would lead to 26 full-time layoffs and reduced service levels. Park Board Commissioner Kedar Deshpande said some recreation centers could close.
“ We have to take seriously the cost of underinvesting in our shared resources.”
Hennepin County points to state and federal cost shifts. “These shifts do not reduce the federal or state taxes residents pay — they instead move more responsibility onto local governments and the property tax base,” County Commissioner Heather Edelson said.
“ I think it’s time really for Minneapolis to separate the nice-to-haves from the must-haves and concentrate on the core services.”
Critics say the city needs to set priorities. Brandt said that for most city taxpayers, the increase from an 11.3% levy “would be in the 15 to 20% range. And so that’s horrendous.” He told KSTP, “I think it’s time really for Minneapolis to separate the nice-to-haves from the must-haves and concentrate on the core services.”
Terry White writes for the Hill & Lake Press. He lives in Field.
Image courtesy of Hennepin County Library.
