2024.03.18 CC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Meeting Minutes for March 18, 2024 Page 2 of 5 charitable gambling at Running Aces and the Chisago Lakes Golf Course. They purchased their building in 2017. During the pandemic most meetings were virtual, and 95% still were because it was convenient. Since their building was paid for and many continued to work from home, they sold it in five days for the asking price and had 60 days to move. They were now leasing office space in the old Central Learning Center. Linda shared information on the programs the LC4YF offered. There were 115 clients that attended their enrichment and safety camps including three Hugo youth. There were 189 intervention clients, and of the 673 sessions held, six were clients from Hugo. In total, the LC4YF saw 214 clients for Counseling and held 2,878 sessions. The ages they served were between 3-80 years old. She said they do not turn anyone away. Grants are used for families that don’t have insurance or have a high deductible. Their goal was to maintain and expand program areas while watching finances and making sure salaries were keeping up with the market. They were also paying attention to what was needed in the community. Washington County Assessors Update - Appraisers Dan Squyres and Tyson Terry Washington County Residential Property Appraiser Tyson Terry was in attendance with Commercial Appraiser Dan Squyres to provide Council an update on County and Hugo property assessments in preparation for the Local Board of Appeals and Adjustments meeting on April 4, 2024. Tyson began by explaining the assessment year timeline begins on October 1 and goes to next September 30. They were currently working on the year 2025. Values were locked in currently and would be payable in 2024. Valuation notices were sent out the previous Friday. Tyson reviewed what residents would be seeing on the tax statement and some of the questions that may come up. The date of the Local Board of Appeal and Equalization meeting would be on there, and they were starting to set up appointments for those looking to appeal. Tyson provided information on the assessment cycle. From March to October they will be out taking photos and knocking on doors. He talked about the quintile process that required properties be reviewed and updated every five years. This year, 1,123 properties were to be reviewed. Last year, they reviewed 1,536. He showed a map of the quintile area for this year which will be properties south of 130th Street. He reviewed sales statistics for last year saying there were 219 qualified sales. This did not include new construction or arm’s-length sales. This was down from 315 sales last year. The average sales price was $403,800, which was up from 2023 but down from 2022. The median price of a home was slowly rising. Lender mediated sales had dropped to 35 last year in the County with none in Hugo. There was only one new commercial building in Hugo, and that was the Premier Bank. There were 119 new residential homes constructioned last year, which was substantially down from 2021, likely due to high interest rates. Builders were creating programs to help new home buyers. Median home values last year declined by 4.7 %. Agricultural properties were being adjusted to be more in line with residential sites. Overall, the adjustment was down 3.7%. New listings had gone down over the last two years. Sellers are still getting 100% of their asking price.