St. Cloud board finalizes 2025 payable 2026 levy of $36.96 million; district says levy up 4.7% but homeowner impact limited
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Summary
Finance director Amy Skelerud presented a final levy certification of $36,956,515.79, a $1,658,929.14 (4.7%) increase; administrators said state funding remains the majority of revenues and the typical homeowner faces a modest tax impact depending on valuation changes.
Amy Skelerud, the district’s executive director of finance and business services, presented the final 2025 payable 2026 property tax levy to the board, saying the levy increased by $1,658,929.14, a 4.7% rise from the prior year, and that the final certification amount is $36,956,515.79.
Skelerud walked the board through required Truth in Taxation components: the levy’s three funds (general fund, community education, debt service), the district’s roughly $212 million combined fund budget with about $180 million in the general fund, and the revenue mix, which she said is predominantly state-funded (71.49%) with property tax representing roughly 16.7% of total revenue. She explained that the debt-service share rose because of recently approved referendum debt but that some debt-service increases were offset by fund-balance adjustments and state negative adjustments tied to interest income.
Using household examples, Skelerud illustrated taxpayer impact: on a $250,000 house the estimated direct levy impact was about $39.96; if the district’s tax base were to rise by 5.2% she said the illustrative increase would be about $34 for an average homeowner. She emphasized that much of what drives changes in an individual homeowner’s bill—market valuations—is outside the district’s control.
Board member Al Dahlgren praised the fiscal approach: "We said that we weren't gonna raise property taxes by a lot this year and we didn't raise property taxes by a lot this year," he said before moving the certification. Dahlgren moved to approve the final levy certification; Scott Endresen seconded. A roll-call vote approved the levy certification as recommended by administration.
No members of the public offered testimony during the Truth in Taxation hearing portion of the meeting.
The board approved the levy certification by motion and roll-call vote; administration will file the certified levy with county authorities per statutory deadlines.