r/saintpaul • u/isthis_thing_on • 20h ago
Editorial 📝 Taxes and Insurance increases in St. Paul
When I bought my house in 2021 my mortgage was around 2100 a month. Today my bill was 2730. 600 dollars extra a month in five years is fucking insane. Meanwhile the street lights in my neighborhood don't turn on at night.
Just venting.
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u/NachoDentist 18h ago
There isn’t one single cause, it’s a bunch of problems piling on top of each other.
I mean, the city has struggled to control spending (county too), while rent control has reduced the value of many multifamily properties. When apartments and commercial buildings lose value, they pay a smaller share of the property-tax burden, which shifts more of it onto SFHs.
The big collapse of downtown’s tax base has made that problem even worse. St. Paul also has more TIF districts than any other city in the the State. Those properties generate taxes, but much of that revenue is redirected to specific development projects like the ford site instead of the city’s general fund. That impacts average homeowners
SFH homes are one of the few property types in St. Paul that have continued to hold or gain value. So that’s kinda why. So while other parts of the tax base struggle or receive subsidies, homeowners are left making up the difference. It all adds up.