At its Dec. 11 meeting, the New Hope City Council approved the City’s 2024 budget and tax levy.
The 2024 general fund budget is $18,578,101, a 7.8% increase over the 2023 budget. The total tax levy for 2024, including the general fund, street and park infrastructure funds, economic development and housing and redevelopment authorities, prior debt levies and bonds, is $20,075,245, representing a 5.36% increase, or $1,021,929, over the 2023 levy of $19,053,316. The total levy includes three new levies of $100,000 each to build reserves for future capital needs for City facilities, including the fire station, aquatic park and city hall/police facility as outlined in the City’s long-term plan. Also included is a 5% increase in the street and park infrastructure levies to support the long-term funding of street and park infrastructure improvements.
Also included in the 2024 budget is a Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA) tax levy of $459,743 and an Economic Development Authority (EDA) levy of $168,683 to help fund redevelopment activities within the City, including the Scattered Site Housing Program. These levies received required approvals from the New Hope City Council and the Economic Development Authority at the Dec. 11 meeting.
New Hope will receive $1,306,156 in local government aid in 2024, an increase of $458,326 from 2023. The City will utilize the revenue to offset central garage equipment and building replacement charges; it is not used for general operations.
While the overall tax rate may appear high compared to other cities, New Hope includes infrastructure improvements in the general property tax levy rather than assessing the benefiting property owner. Thus, New Hope does not assess taxable properties for street improvements.
According to the Hennepin County Assessor, the median home value for taxes payable in 2023 is $326,050, a 0.32% increase from 2022. Per updated information recently received from the County, the estimated impact on residential homes based on the proposed 5.36% is 3%. For homes valued between $175,000 and $500,000, the tax increase amounts to a property tax increase of between $29 and $93 per household.
Property Tax Relief Programs
The State of Minnesota provides direct property tax relief to qualified taxpayers, including the Homestead Credit Refund Program and the Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program. More information about these programs and others is available at
revenue.state.mn.us/property-tax-relief.
Links to the 2024 budget and corresponding presentation are available at
newhopemn.gov/finance.