Laserfiche WebLink
GOVERNMENTAL FUNDS OVERVIEW <br />This section of the report provides you with an overview of the financial trends and activities of the City's <br />governmental funds, which includes the General, special revenue, debt service, and capital project funds. <br />These funds are used to account for the basic services the City provides to all of its citizens, which are <br />financed primarily with property taxes. The governmental fund information in the City's financial <br />statements focuses on budgetary compliance and the sufficiency of each governmental fund's current <br />assets to finance its current liabilities. <br />PROPERTY TAXES <br />Minnesota cities rely heavily on local property tax levies to support their governmental fund activities. <br />For the 2015 fiscal year, local ad valorem property tax levies provided 39.8 percent of the total <br />governmental fund revenues for cities over 2,500 in population, and 35.6 percent for cities under 2,500 in <br />population. Property tax levies certified by Minnesota cities for 2016 increased about 4.8 percent over <br />2015, compared to an increase of 4.0 percent the prior year. <br />The total market value of property in Minnesota cities increased about 5.7 percent for the 2016 levy year. <br />While the percentage of market value growth was less than the 8.5 percent increase for levy year 2015, it <br />was considerably larger than the 1.1 percent growth experienced in levy year 2014. Market values <br />increased across all property categories for 2016, with gains in the market values of nonhomestead <br />residential properties (9.1 percent) and other properties (7.3 percent) outpacing the market value gain of <br />residential homestead properties (5.0 percent), commercial/industrial properties (4.9 percent), and farms <br />(0.1 percent). The market values used for levying property taxes are based on the previous fiscal year <br />(e.g., market values for taxes levied in 2016 were based on assessed values as of January 1, 2015), so the <br />trend of change in these market values lags somewhat behind the housing market and economy in general. <br />The City's taxable market value increased 12.8 percent for 2015 and increased 4.5 percent for taxes <br />payable in 2016. The following graph shows the City's changes in taxable market value over the past <br />10 years: <br />$2,500,000,000 <br />$2,000,000,000 <br />$1,500,000,000 <br />$1,000,000,000 <br />$500,000,000 <br />Taxable Market Value <br />2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 <br />-5- <br />