Mayor Chris Coleman and your City Council want you to understand how your city property tax is determined and where the money goes. The Budget Review calendar on the right lets you review budget discussions by date or topic, and there are links below to information and resources--including tax relief programs.


Property Tax Videos
Nobody likes paying bills, but we all do expect to pay for the goods and services that contribute to our quality of life.  The city portion of your property tax bill may look like a big number, but if you do the math, you may find that the city's services cost you no more than those treats you choose to buy yourself every day.  Watch "Hill of Beans."

The Truth in Taxation Statement comes out in November and it's supposed to help you estimate your total property tax bill.  But it never matches the actual tax statement that you receive in March.  Find out why on "Your Property Tax Dollar."


Property Tax Assistance
You may qualify for Property Tax assistance in the form of deferrals, credits or refunds.  Find out more.

• Did you know that the city's budget process takes almost a year to complete? Here's the Saint Paul City Budget Timeline.
• Detailed budget documents are available at stpaul.gov/budget.
• Watch Mayor Coleman's August 12 Budget Address or the August 19 Library Budget Address (videos)

Property Tax Terms

• Tax levy: The amount of money that a government unit must raise in order to cover the cost of their services. The budget planning process estimates what services will cost for the next year, and the tax levy is one of the funding sources for that budget.
• Assessments: Assessments are charges for services such as street maintenance, that are calculated and billed after the work has been done. They are usually added to the property tax bill for convenience.
• Estimated market value: The assessor assigns a market value for your property based on an estimate of its likely selling price.
• Taxable market value: You pay taxes on your property based on this value. In recent years, this has been reduced by the Limited Market Value program.
• Limited market value: LMV is a statewide program started by the Legislature in 1994 to protect residential property owners from rapidly-increasing market values, by artificially limiting the taxable value of a property. The LMV program is being phased out, so that taxes payable in 2010 will be based on full estimated market value.

Truth in Taxation
The annual Truth in Taxation hearing is sponsored by Ramsey County, the Saint Paul School District, and the City of Saint Paul.  It's one of several opportunities for you and your neighbors to comment on how these taxing authorities' decisions affect your  property taxes.  The Truth in Taxation hearing took place on December 11, 2008.  Watch the video.