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Council Adopts 2025 Operating Budget and Tax Levy <br />The City Council set the 2025 tax levy and adopted the budget <br />for the coming year at its December 17, 2024, meeting. The <br />Council adopted a 2025 Property Tax Levy of $10,084,019: an <br />increase of $1,161,977 or 13.02% over 2024. The City’s <br />estimated tax rate for 2025 is 26.77%, up from the 2024 tax <br />rate of 24.63%. <br />Below is a summary of detailed information that can be found <br />on the Finance and Utility page at www.Lakeelmo.gov. The <br />overall City levy is made up of the General Fund Levy, Deby <br />Levy, and a Capital Levy. <br />2025 General Fund Budget & Levy <br />The General Fund levy was set at $5,588,958, a decrease of <br />$409,254 or 6.82%. The decrease is due solely to a change in <br />practice, incorporating separate capital levies instead of <br />transfers from the General Fund. <br />The General Fund Budget for expenditures for 2025 has an <br />overall decrease of 2.33% from 2024, due to the move away <br />from capital transfers. Individual department budgets can <br />change year-to-year depending on activities. <br />Some significant changes for 2025 include the following: <br />Strategic Planning & Goal Setting (conducted every 2 <br />years) <br />New Communications position <br />New Financial Software Comprehensive Planning (multi- <br />year project) <br />Increased City Center maintenance expenses <br />Additional Paid-on-Call Firefighter hours <br />Two additional Public Works staff <br />As the city continues to grow, these investments in staffing, <br />training and software will drive more efficient, sustainable, and <br />responsive public services. <br />2025 Debt Service Levy <br />Debt levies are increasing by $327,898 or 11.21%. <br />2025 Capital Levy <br />The City adopted a new capital levy for 2025. These <br />funds will be used to plan future capital purchases and <br />help to decrease the city’s debt load over time. Vehicle <br />and Street Levies were formerly transferred from the <br />General Fund and have just been moved to the new <br />methodology. <br />2025 City Property Tax Rate & Tax Impacts <br />The tax rate is calculated using the Total Levy divided <br />by the city’s tax capacity. The City’s estimated tax rate <br />for 2025 is 26.77%, an increase of 2.14 percentage <br />points over the 2024 tax rate of 24.63%. Tax impacts <br />on a home are due to the change in tax rate and home <br />value. The Median Home Value fell from $585,700 in <br />2024 to $581,700 for tax year 2025. Applying the <br />estimated tax rate to a median-value home would <br />reflect an increase of $117 in city tax for the year or <br />$9.75 per month. Lake Elmo continues to have one of <br />the lower tax rates in Washington County, ranking 9th <br />out of the 10 cities most similar in population in 2024. <br />FINANCE <br />Property Tax Calculator <br />Would you like to see where your city property taxes go? You can use our Property Tax Calculator <br />spreadsheet to illustrate the amount and percentage of your taxes that go to which city services. Find it on the <br />Finance & Utility page at www.LakeElmo.gov. <br />Detailed information on the 2025 Budget & Tax Levy is available on the Finance & Utility page at <br />LakeElmo.gov. <br />4 <br />General Fund Levy <br />55.4%Debt Service Levy <br />32.2% <br />Capital levy <br />12.3% <br />Capital Levy <br />Debt Service Levy <br />General Fund Levy <br />TOTAL <br />$1,243,333 <br />$3,251,728 <br />$5,588,958 <br />$10,084,019