Stearns County Proposes $8 million in More Spending, 4.33% Levy Increase

(KNSI) – Stearns County proposes a 4.33% increase in its 2023 property tax levy and a 4.52% hike for its total budget. The increase will bring in more than $3,783,000 from local property taxpayers.

The county’s preliminary budget is over $186 million, nearly $8 million more than the county spent in 2022. It’s funded through about $91 million in property taxes, plus federal, state, special taxes or other outside sources.

Stearns County Assistant Administrator Steve Hammes told the commissioners that infrastructure improvements are driving the increase.

“The largest increases in spending in 2023 will be in the highway department. The road construction program itself which is at 7.7 million and then road and bridge fund which is operations In maintenance going up 1.5 million.”

The general fund and the Human Services Fund are each going up by $2.1 million next year. He says the county isn’t immune from inflation driving up the budget.

“The service is part of the budget is the area that’s going up the fastest at 12%. And it’s got the largest dollar increase. And again, that is where all of our contracts for services are. All of the vendors for Human Services, all of those contracts live there. And inflation is taking a hit on those.”

The board of commissioners will meet later this month to discuss and adopt the preliminary budget. A truth and taxation hearing will be held in November, and the final budget will be adopted in December.

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