Truth in Taxation

Under the Truth in Taxation process, the City holds a public hearing prior to adopting its annual tax levy and General Fund budget. 

Timeline for the 2022 Budget

  • September
    • City staff presented several options for the City Council to consider in setting the preliminary tax levy
    • City Council established the preliminary tax levy for taxes payable 2022 at the September 20 meeting
  • October thru November
    • City Council will review the enterprise fund budgets in a series of work sessions
  • December
    • City Council will hold a Truth in Taxation Public Hearing at the City Council meeting on Monday, December 6 2021
    • City Council will consider adopting the 2022 budget and establish a final tax levy at its meeting on Monday, December 20 2021

2022 Preliminary Tax Levy

The City Council set the maximum tax levy at $12,186,866 at the September 20th meeting. 

What's that mean for a Chaska property owner?

The median value home in 2022 is $298,500, which is an increase of $28,745 in market value from 2021.

The tax Impact on a median value home would be an increase of $7 per month ($84 annually)

Here’s the breakdown of the $7 monthly increase:

  • New Growth and Inflation makes up $4
  • Staffing Study Implementation makes up $2
  • Addition of Police Officer Position to Staffing Study Implementation makes up $1

Here's an overview of the added priorities that would be funded by the proposed 2022 tax levy if approved in December:

  • Staffing Study Implementation
    • Initiative to address a gap of 16 employees needed to maintain high-quality service levels in our community.
    • This would be the second year in a four-year implementation period. 
    • In 2022, we would add an Assistant Engineer, a Human Resources Tech, and a Building Maintenance position.
  • Police Department Staffing
    • Review of current staffing and staffing study results recognized a current gap of three officers. 
      • Used data to compare our staffing levels to similar communities. We used calls for service and population to determine similar communities.
      • Community conversations provided valuable feedback. Many in our community would like to see our police department focus on customer service, community building, and consistent review of procedures and policies. 
    • The plan would be to add one police officer position each of the next three years. 
    • This would help our department better serve the community by:
      • Increasing the minimum officers on duty during a shift. This helps keep our officers safe when responding to calls. Our shift minimums have not changed since the early 2000s even though the community has grown by almost 10,000 people.
      • Providing more opportunities for our officers to build relationships and connections within the community. 

Chaska will remain on the lower end of taxes compared to the other municipalities in the Twin Cities. If we assume that each of the other cities see no increase in taxes, we would one of the 12 lowest tax levies per capita in the Twin Cities, a ranking we have had for several years.

Watch City Administrator Matt Podhradsky presentation on the 2021 preliminary tax levy.

Note: The Fire Department staffing plan to make Chief No. 2 a full-time position can be implemented without additional impact to our tax levy.

A full-time Chief No. 2 position would:

  • Ensure continuity in department leadership
  • Help maintain our paid-on-call model into the future

Five-Year Forecasts