Property tax collections set a new high in Sherburne County in 2017.
A report released by the auditor/treasurer a week ago showed homeowners and business owners paid 99.27% of taxes levied ($44,366.422.13) for that year.
That was up from the previous year, when the county also set a record by collecting 99.06% of property taxes.
But it wasn’t just 2017 taxes that were paid. Some property owners also paid back taxes from prior years.
In 2017, the county collected $284,857.9 in taxes covering the years 2011 to 2016.
Back in 2011 with a levy of $39,708,390.05, the county collected 97.59% of property taxes. That percentage has increased every year to 98.11%, 98.57%, 98.86% and 98.99% in 2015.
It’s a sign the economy is stronger than it was a decade ago.
Road & Bridge Tax
Sherburne County received $320,237 from the state in road and bridge reimbursements. That was up from $272,636 the year before.
Counties receive the disbursement every year from the state for distribution to each township. Townships in the county that have a road and bridge levy are allocated their portion of road and bridge taxes collected by the state.
The amount is based on a formula of total road miles and population.
Big Lake Twp., which has the most road miles (79.16) and population (7,746) in the county, had the highest distribution at $56,795.46.
Baldwin Twp. was next at $53,401.23, followed by Livonia Twp. at $49,502.93, Becker Twp. at $43,520.55 and Orrock Twp. ($29,130.65).
Gravel Tax
The county also distributed its gravel tax from 2017. The tax is collected on every ton (or yard) of aggregate material mined in the county.
Sherburne County is one of the top gravel-mining counties in the state. It had the third highest gravel tax collected in the state in 2016 at $475,446, topped only by Dakota Co. ($1,116,676) and Clay Co. ($533,783).
The amount distributed in Sherburne County for 2017 was $453,589.36.
The biggest taxpayer was Tiller (Barton Sand & Gravel) at $190,140.10. Knife River Corp. was next at $95,620.21. Aggregate Industries paid $74,297.81 and Plaisted Companies paid $73,777.22.
Elk River received $144,132.47 of the distribution. Haven Twp. got $28,978.25. Another $3,526.09 went to Becker Twp., $3,197.41 to Livonia Twp., $2,326.72 to Clear Lake Twp. and $975.78 to Big Lake Twp.
The county put $183,136.72 in its road and bridge fund and $64,636.49 in its gravel tax reserve fund. The remaining $22,679.43 covered administrative costs.
