st. paul

Hennepin County commissioners unanimously decided Tuesday not to raise the property tax levy next year, partly out of fiscal prudence but also to send a message to Gov. Tim Pawlenty that -- as some put it -- they're not going to clean up his messes on the backs of their taxpayers anymore.

Ramsey County commissioners also cast a unanimous vote on their maximum property tax levy for next year but settled on a 2.7 percent levy hike, the same increase they approved last year.

Officials in the state's two most populous counties are mindful of potential cuts to state aid because of a predicted $5.8 billion shortfall in the state's budget. In Hennepin County, Administrator Richard Johnson had recommended that the board pass a maximum tax levy of 1 percent to build in some flexibility.

But Commissioner Jan Callison said Tuesday that the county will continue to face uncertainty even after a new governor is elected and a new state economic forecast is released.

"This year we need to stay at that zero percent ... [to be] responsive to our constituents, to their needs economically, and trying to do the right thing by them," she said.

Under a zero levy increase in Hennepin County, a Minneapolis taxpayer with a home at the median market value of $185,500 would pay 6.3 percent more than this year, an increase of $48. A suburban homeowner with a home valued at the median market value of $236,700 would pay 2.2 percent more, or $23.

The effect of Ramsey County's maximum levy on the owner of a $155,000 median value home would be a $25 increase in the county portion of the total property tax bill.

Last year the Hennepin board, on a 4-3 vote, raised the tax levy by 4.95 percent as a buffer against continued bad times and to brace Hennepin County Medical Center as the state ended its medical assistance program for the poorest and sickest Minnesotans.

Three of the four DFL-endorsed Hennepin commissioners up for reelection this fall stressed that a zero percent increase would tell Pawlenty, a Republican, that they're no longer going to be his political enablers.

Commissioner Gail Dorfman said Hennepin repeatedly has come to the rescue of services that were hurt by Pawlenty's cuts in state aid to cities and counties.

"We're letting the governor off the hook every single time by coming in and increasing our levy," she said.

The rush to consensus left Commissioner Jeff Johnson, a Republican and the board's most outspoken budget hawk, with little to add. "I hate this idea," he said, drawing laughs.

Johnson said he supported no increase in the tax levy "not because I want to send a message to anyone or stick it to anyone, but I think this is the right thing to do."

But a zero increase won't flatten everyone's tax bill. As commercial and industrial property values decline, the tax burden is shifting toward the residential side. Cities, school districts, parks and watershed districts are free to raise their share of taxes.

Hennepin County's proposed 2011 budget, to be released later this month, will come to about $1.6 billion. Ramsey County runs on a two-year budget cycle, and commissioners approved a preliminary 2011 budget last year. With adjustments, the proposed 2011 budget in Ramsey County is $590 million.

Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455 Chris Havens • 651-298-1552