By Forrest Adams

Chanhassen home owners may need to pay more property taxes next year.

With one dissenting vote from Councilor Vicki Ernst, the city council approved a preliminary tax levy that’s 2.92 percent more than the final levy they set in 2007.

How much more you may need to pay is difficult to determine, but if you own an average-valued Chanhassen home of $350,000, and your home has gone up 4.95 percent in value, which was the average home value increase between 2006 and 2007, then you’d pay about $10 more. 

 The city’s finance director, Greg Sticha, said it all depends on the amount your home goes up in value from year to year.

“Let’s say you add a deck to your house. You’ve added value to your home, and you’d pay more than $10 more,” he said. “Say your home went down in value, then you’d pay less.”

The preliminary levy that the city will set with the county by Sept. 15 is $9,854,965, which is $278,917 more than last year.

Anticipated city expenditures leading to the higher budget in 2008 include raises for city staff within the zero to 3.5 percent more range, an increase in the police services contract with Carver County, $100,000 for new officers, and four more staff hours at the senior center, amounting to about $3,000, Sticha said.

“If you increase the services you provide, it’s hard to not have the cost for those services go up,” Sticha said. “We’ve kept our service levels where they’re at pretty steady or level. This year was difficult [to keep the increase low] because we added a police officer.”

A Truth in Taxation hearing is set for Dec. 3 when the public can comment on the levy. Sticha said state law would exempt the city from holding such a hearing because the levy increase is low enough, but the city’s practice has been to hold a hearing every year.

Sticha recommended that any citizen who wants to be involved in the levy debate to not wait until the Truth in Taxation hearing to give their input.

“We have work sessions between now and the end of the year. That’s a great opportunity,” he said. “If you wait until the Truth in Taxation time to give your input, you only have a week to make changes. Get involved early in the process.”

Despite the increased preliminary levy, Sticha said Chanhassen’s is one still low. He cited a survey that was recently conducted by an organization of finance directors in the Twin Cities community. It showed Chanhassen’s preliminary levy as the sixth lowest of 65 communities. The average preliminary levy increase in those communities is 6.6 percent levy increase, he said.

“From what I’ve been hearing from other finance directors is that ours is definitely lower than most,” he said.

Readers can contact Forrest Adams at fadams@swpub.com.