County presents 2026 proposed budget and answers residents' questions about steep tax notices

County Administrator David Nammie and County Auditor Kathleen Lyon presented the Aitkin County proposed 2026 budget ($51,513,678) and reviewed the county levy, fund priorities and drivers behind the proposed 5.24% levy increase. Nammie said 51% of the county budget is salary and benefits, that road and bridge spending is increasing largely because of a near‑term state aid boost for project work, and that Health & Human Services faces rising programmatic requirements and planned reserve use.

Nammie highlighted a technical correction to the taconite homestead/supplemental credit that affected some taxpayers: a 2025 error increased the supplemental credit for certain properties, producing an apparent larger change in 2026 when the credit returned to its corrected level. He gave an example showing a property’s taconite credit moving from $515 back to $289 and explained that, absent the 2025 anomaly, the underlying change in county levy would have been roughly 5.4% rather than the larger apparent jump on individual tax notices.

During the public comment period, resident Jim Viney said his property tax had risen by about 70% and asked for an explanation; staff and the assessor's office urged residents to bring statements to the assessor counter after the meeting and noted causes can include classification changes, valuation increases and the corrected supplemental taconite credit. Another resident, Isaiah Johnson, a first‑time homebuyer, said the presentation helped but asked where levy dollars go; staff reiterated that only the county portion was covered and pointed to public safety, roads and HHS as major levy recipients.

Nammie said the final budget and levy will be considered at the board’s next regular meeting (the following Tuesday) and that staff will continue to answer individual taxpayer questions at the assessor’s office.