The Pope County Board of Commissioners adopted its preliminary budget and property tax levy for 2026 at its regular Board meeting on September 16, 2025.
After a careful review of requested expenditures by County departments and offices, as well as from outside entities, the County Board adopted a preliminary property tax levy for 2026 of $11,640,641, an increase of 5.9% over 2025’s levy of $10,992,107. The preliminary budget was set with expenditures of $22,732,794; County program aid revenue from the State of Minnesota of $806,796; other non-levy revenues of $10,441,586.
Historically, Pope County’s property tax levy has increased far less than inflation since 2017. From 2017 to 2021, the Pope County property tax levy remained the same or decreased, with no adjustments in 2018 and 2019, and decreases of 0.75% and 3.0% respectively in 2020 and 2021. In the midst of severe inflation, the property tax levy was raised by 3.9%, 4.9%, 6.9%, and 3.9% in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 respectively. Although County managers put together a modest budget for 2026 in an attempt to control cost increases, forecasts for 2026 and 2027 are concerning as the state and federal governments plan to shift more and more costs to counties and their property tax levies to pay for mandated services the state and federal governments require the county to provide.
Conservative budgeting and the planned, limited use of County fund balances for certain payroll expenses will somewhat lessen reliance on levied property tax funding during 2026. These same approaches will be used in the coming months to find opportunities for lessening the preliminary property tax levy before the County’s final budget for 2026 is adopted in December.
Under Minnesota law, the County preliminary property tax levy can only remain the same or decrease at the time of the 2026 final budget adoption. The County Board, County administration, elected officials, and appointed managers will carefully examine the expenditures and revenues projected in the preliminary budget for opportunities to adjust the budget to reduce costs and consider a final levy amount lower than that adopted in the preliminary budget.
At the same meeting, the Board of Commissioners set the County’s annual Truth-in-Taxation Hearing for Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. at the Pope County Courthouse. This public meeting is held after taxation notices are issued to property owners in the fall, where budget and tax issues are discussed, and public input on the County’s preliminary budget and levy may be given before the Board’s final budget is adopted. Separate hearings are also held by other local governments, such as school districts and cities over 500 in population, at which the public may give input on those governments’ separately-determined preliminary levies and budgets. Only the subject of the proposed County budget, and not property appraisals or other local government budgets, will be addressed at the County Truth-in-Taxation Hearing.