Experts Recommend Stearns County Use Sales Tax For New Justice Center

(KNSI) – The Stearns County Board of Commissioners heard from the University of Minnesota Extension Tuesday on how best to fund a new justice center.

County Administrator Mike Williams says the agency has done similar work for other cities and counties. The extension says a sales tax saves the average resident about $34 compared to a property levy.

Williams breaks it down by household. “Our average residential property is valued at $259,000. And so, when you do it that way, it compares that sales tax paid by household would be $85 and property tax paid by household would be almost $200.”

Williams tells KNSI News that officials at the extension told the county a sales tax makes sense compared to a property levy because there is a net migration into Stearns for work or other reasons daily. About 55% of sales tax collected would come from residents outside the county. That inflow is also seen in the jail population, which is split roughly 50/50 by county of record.

According to Williams, the study estimate reached a similar conclusion to the county’s own numbers. He says the current transportation tax gives the county a record that helps in making accurate predictions.

“Many of the roads you’ve seen throughout the county that have been improved in the last few years were paid for with that quarter-cent sales tax. So, of course, we can make pretty good projections.”

Estimates for the total cost of the new center are around $325 million, but until final details are hammered out, there are still a lot of unknowns financially.

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