By Dan Solovitz

In his Oct. 6 “Mayor’s Moment” video, Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey highlighted recent widespread economic difficulties felt around the metro area as well as the country, while offering positive news of strong growth throughout the city.

Mayor Bailey said, “Our residents enjoy a smalltown feel, while expecting exceptional service. The city is not immune to the inflation our residents experience at the pumps and the grocery store. Each city department has felt the impact of inflation and supply shortages, from fuel costs for squad cars to asphalt prices for maintaining roads.”

Noting that Minnesota’s inflation costs are at an alltime high, Bailey continued, “We have identified the need to increase the city’s property tax levy to maintain services. The levy is set to increase to 12.6%, or $20,649,710. We have not had significant increases in the city’s levy over the last two years, due to Covid.”

Outlining the reasons and benefits of the levy hike, Bailey said, “About 85% of our proposed levy is to fund general operating services, including public safety, maintenance of parks and trails, winter snow plowing, and the upkeep of miles of roads. The city’s need for services has grown along with the increase in population.”

Laying out the city’s plan, Bailey began by highlighting the goal to manage sustainable growth. He noted that the city is experiencing a positive and beneficial city tax rate result. Pointing out the city’s proposed tax levy compared to 12 neighboring communities, Cottage Grove is coming in as the third-lowest in actual tax levied per capita.

“As a financially healthy and growing city, we’ve been able to deliver highly-ranked public services at one of the lowest tax rates in the Twin Cities metro region,” Byron said. “Homeowners have enjoyed a market value increase of about 5.3%, while the city’s tax rate has only gone up 2.9%. The growth in the new construction we’ve seen, added to the market value increase of residential homes, is causing our tax rate to fall to historic lows.”

Bailey concluded, “On Nov. 29, from 6-8 p.m., we welcome you to City Hall for an open house where you can ask questions about these forthcoming changes. The goal with this levy is to continue the level of service for Cottage Grove residents.”