Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Ground Level Blog
Dave Peters

Shocked by your tax notice? Look again

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

If you just opened your truth-in-taxation notice and are stunned to see how little your house is apparently worth, take a deep breath. No, your house hasn't really collapsed in value the way a lot of tax notices seem to indicate.

What may have plunged is your "taxable market value," which is not the same as what your house might fetch on the market.

Last year, your "taxable market value" was, for most homeowners, the same as what the assessor actually thought your house was worth, that is, your estimated market value. Local tax officials used it to determine how much property tax you owed and then they subtracted a homestead credit if your house was worth less than $413,800.

This year, your "taxable market value" is still what your tax is based on, but it can be quite a bit lower than the true market value. This year, houses worth $413,800 or less have some of that value "excluded" before your tax is determined. So a house with a market value of $100,000 has a "taxable market value" of $71,760.

Ken Rowe in the Hennepin County Taxpayer Services Department, where they've been fielding complaint calls, likens it to the difference between adjusted gross income and taxable income on your federal income tax return.

But just because your taxable market value decreased, don't leap to the conclusion that your tax is going down, too. Remember, the credit they used to subtract from your tax is gone this year. Taxes are all over the map. Our sample of 28 Minnesota cities shows that the tax on a median value home is rising in 22 of them.

This is clearer in some counties than others. Ramsey County, for example, shows the arithmetic on individual truth-in-taxation notices, by including your estimated market value and then subtracting the exclusion to yield your taxable market value.

For a full look at how communities are coping in these austere times, check out our Forced to Choose coverage.

And here's my conversation about this with Tom Crann on All Things Considered: