Dakota County maintained its position Tuesday as arguably the metro area's best suburban tax bargain when commissioners approved a new budget and levy that nudged up taxes on an average home by only about $6.

The board approved an increase in the property tax levy of 4.8 percent, slightly under the ceiling it had set in September and comparable to tax increases of the past few years, officials said.

How do they do it? "It's partly a cultural thing, it's partly the expectations of our residents as reflected through the board, and it's partly our budgeting practices," County Administrator Brandt Richardson said.

The levy will pay for about a third of the county's $354.5 million 2008 budget, which as in the recent past was designed to meet special funding challenges in transportation, the criminal justice system and human services.

More corrections officers and intake workers are needed to work in the newly expanded jail, which can now house many more inmates than before, Richardson said. Staffers also have been added to better handle growing caseloads in federal medical assistance programs, he said.

More funding was allocated for Dakota Healthy Families, a voluntary home-visit program for new parents that helps prevent child abuse and improves parenting skills. Money also was included for staffers needed to get the new Rosemount library ready for its projected opening in 2009.

There's often confusion about how the levy is arrived at and how market values are used to determine a household tax bill, Richardson said.

Tax bills next year won't fully reflect recent market declines because they're based on where things were in January 2007, he said. The levy amount itself is decided first, then spread out among the various taxpaying residents and businesses, he said.

The county levy also represents only a portion of a taxpayer's total property tax bill. Dakota County estimates that its portion of a typical property tax bill is 22 percent, with the state taking about half of that and schools and cities each making up about a third of the bill.

The county benefits from having a broad tax base that includes major commercial and industrial development.

"It's a very measured budget," Richardson said. "We try to keep the increase at the same price per citizen, keep the levy the same in real dollars to reflect inflation and growth, and we try to manage year to year within that amount."

Kevin Duchschere • 952-882-9017