(Editor’s Note: The following article was derived from a posting to the Wright County’s website).

Nobody likes paying taxes. A necessary evil at the federal, state and local government levels, taxes are begrudgingly paid by all of us to fund everything from road construction to school programs. Yet, the only option for taxpayers is to swallow hard, pay them and hope the burden isn’t too excessive.

As the State of Minnesota faces a significant budget shortfall – a $6 billion projection for Fiscal Years 2026-27 and 2027-28 – the state’s current proposal to cut its costs is to shift funding for many critical state-mandated programs to its 87 counties. As the fastest growing county in the state, Wright County taxpayers are in line to pay markedly more for services already in place.

Without even having a seat at the table to discuss options, counties have been left in the dark. The only thing counties are being told is to expect big increases in the amount of county funding for programs that have been primarily funded by the state. Suffice to say, that one-way conversation isn’t being taken well.

“The county is supposed to be an administrative arm of programs the state decides to create and fund,” Board Chair Darek Vetsch said. “When the state makes cuts to Health & Human Services like the ones being proposed, they don’t cut the service levels. They just shift the burden of funding those programs to local residents, which means paying more of the costs through property taxes for the same services. Property owners have already been overburdened for the last decade. They can’t shoulder facilitating the state’s deficit through higher property taxes.”

Unlike the federal government, which can operate at a deficit, states are required to have a balanced budget every year. In preparation for its massive deficit, the state is looking to shift funding that currently is split 75-25 with the state paying the lion’s share to 60-40 or 50-50 cost shares. That is untenable for the Wright County Board. 

“There are many critical Human Services programs that are being targeted for these shifts,” Commissioner Tina Diedrick said. “They’re necessary programs, especially for a growth county like ours. As a county board, we spend months every year looking at budgets for the following year trying to keep levy increases as low as possible because we understand the hardships people go through just to make ends meet. Adding an additional requirement to come up with millions of dollars to pay for these programs without any input from counties is wrong.”

A significant problem counties will face is how to generate the funds needed to pay increased bills as opposed to how the state produces added revenue. A state government can create programs that bring in substantial revenue, like the lottery and legalized cannabis – as well as raising fees for services. The only revenue source counties have that provides significant revenue is through property taxes.

Commissioner Kirby Moynagh said there is frustration because the state is supposed to work alongside counties, not dictate policy and add to the burden of all citizens to make up for overspending on the state level in recent years that helped create the current deficit. 

“The state shouldn’t balance its budget by shifting unfunded mandates to counties,” Moynagh said. “The state should be our partner in delivering services, not using counties and our taxpayers as their personal piggy bank when they can’t balance their checkbook. They have plenty of their own programs they can cut without asking counties to bail them out.” 

The funding shift being proposed isn’t just a one-time, short-term problem. Commissioner Jeanne Holland said history shows that whenever the state transfers more funding responsibilities to counties, it becomes permanent.

“From my experience, once these unfunded mandates start and counties are forced to take them on, the state never claws it back,” Holland said. “Once we get this, it will be an ongoing burden on our property taxes. We feel it’s important to take care of our vulnerable seniors and other Human Services programs, but it should be done at the state level, not the county level.”

How bad could things get? Carver County recently warned its residents that its 2026 levy could increase by almost 20 percent. While Wright County officials aren’t projecting a number that dire, a levy increase of more than 10 percent will be the minimum starting point if the state’s current plan comes to fruition.

“Coming into a budget process for next year with a basic goal of merely keeping the levy increase under double digits is unacceptable,” Commissioner Nadine Schoen said. “As commissioners we are stewards for the residents we serve. We have gone to great effort to try to keep our levy as low as we can while still providing quality service that our constituents expect and deserve. Getting stuck picking up the bill because the state is having trouble balancing its own budget shouldn’t be our responsibility.”

The commissioners are asking residents to reach out to the governor’s office and likeminded individuals at the State Legislature because, if the current proposals are approved to balance the state’s books, the result will be painful for Wright County taxpayers asked to pay a bill they didn’t incur.