Why Are Hopkins’ Taxes Higher Than Its Neighbors?
Hopkins homeowners pay more taxes than they would for an identically priced home just across the city border. Patch examines why that’s the case.
When Hopkins homeowner Mark Jensen sat down to talk during the city’s budget hearing, his comments came down to a single question: Why does he pay so much more in property taxes than homeowners in neighboring communities? Finance Director Christine Harkess and City Council members talked about tax rates, state redistribution programs, property classes and other arcane matters. The subject is undoubtedly complicated. Yet Jensen’s question had a very simple basis in reality. Hopkins has the second-highest residential tax bills among seven west metro communities that Patch surveyed and the highest taxes among its immediate neighbors. The owner of a $250,000 home in Hopkins will pay $1,549 in 2013. That same home just across the border in …
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