When I was on Board and Chaired it two years, I had the old-fashioned philosophy that public servants should actually help serve the public. I’m sorry, you may tire of my bringing it up again, but my property database was demonstrated to Board and deputy clerk Amy showing 4 reports I thought would be very helpful references to put on the Eureka website. Besides a catalog of all the properties in Eureka, their acreage, school district, watershed, and construction year of current houses in place, it identifies every available housing right by type of right and whether any form of business permit may be in play. Another report lists all 180 likely grandfathered housing rights (which can be accidentally destroyed). How many owners do you think even KNOW they may have a grandfathered housing right?
Some of You need to talk to Board, because I’m no longer inclined to waste my time trying to help them help YOU. I’ve tried to tell them, 3 times in written detail, flaws that still exist in the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances, the needed steps to accept my unique custom database, coordinate with their tech support, copy my backup worksheets, and training on its use that necessarily includes learning Zoning Ordinance features. Nobody on Board or PC for 2 years now would even bother to respond, ask any questions, and discuss it in a meeting.
I admit I realized, when a Town Attorney pointed it out, I couldn’t simply donate it as planned. I would need to be a contractor so Township liability insurance would protect me if any of them made a mistake with it. Liz even made a draft based on another contract making two changes: the software license would be $1 per month and my technical support and training would be another $1 per month. The program and all the analysis of about 950 properties would easily cost $100,000 to hire outsiders to produce, not counting someone with my knowledge to guide them and explain Ordinance features. No free help goes unpunished.
Taxes and gravel road maintenance. Yes, this is a more immediate concern because our levies have not kept up with national inflation the past 4 years, possibly aided by unusual wet weather timing as well. Remember that next March when we consider the next levy at the Annual Meeting.
Many of the small businesses in Eureka are not recognized by the County Assessor’s office, and that’s fine because most are very low impact and many are home businesses that no one has any issue with. But most also pay similar or less property tax than single family residences on a per-acre basis. No, of course I am not suggesting some crazy way to tax them higher.
Why “tax per acre”? Because that is the best way to understand the value of zoning changes, especially where greater traffic impact, for example, may enter the consideration. But at the same time, the lower tax on ag land is critical to maintain economic viability. Ag land and operation is fundamental to our Comprehensive Plan goals and commitment, strongly endorsed by the MET Council’s oversight authority at least through 2040. Large ag acreage also generates less road wear than more houses or businesses per mile. And we also have a lot of gravel under some of that land needed long-term for continuing development and replacement construction throughout the region, including highways and bridges. MET Council is aware of that, too.
So what kinds of investments will increase tax income over our current situation? Let’s walk through some actual numbers, not sweeping guesses.
An important example is housing density. First, terminology is important. Eureka’s (and most township) zoning is not “1 per 40 acres”, but “1 per quarter-quarter-Section”, which happens to be approximately 40 acres square. Where this is important is when we talk about a higher density using a misleading expression such as “1 per 10” acres. Some also think this means minimum lot size of 10 acres.
This is the worst possible idea that needlessly destroys both ag land and future growth potential. This also, by the way, would create 102 more lots (between 2 and 9.99 acres) that are routinely buildable today that would fall into “grandfathered” status. This requires expensive property research and proof from Dakota County records in Hastings that the property qualifies for grandfather status under State guidelines. The approximately 180 grandfathered lots existing today are important because it is protection of 180 housing rights, but no value to push 102 more properties into this administrative category for no good reason.
Think about it: Current minimum lot size is 2 acres, of which we have many. With our flexibility to transfer or sell housing rights (unique among Minnesota townships), 4 houses can be built in a quarter-quarter-Section using as little as 8 acres if desired, preserving as much as 32 acres that may be desirable ag land – and nice rural scenery.
Out of curiosity, I looked at a typical middle-class house in Lakeville comparable to many in Eureka in terms of size, number of bedrooms, and number of baths. Land, house, and total assessed valuation same ballpark as in Eureka, so same approximate property tax.
Oh, did I mention the Lakeville house is on a ¼-acre lot and the Eureka house is on 2.5 acres? For the same house and property tax, maybe some of us think the extra 2-1/4 acres might be nice for the kids to play in, bird or deer watch, or host your friends for a backyard barbeque without being walled in by houses on either side and rear…. Do your property taxes look so high now?
What price quality of life? Taxes are higher everywhere.
Our current zoning preserves a “Cap of 4” housing density within State and MET Council allowances without creating new housing rights that MET Council will not approve until 2040 or later. Why? Because we still have about 380 rights available and new housing in Eureka has only been going up at the rate of 3-6 per year.
OK, let’s get back to housing taxes. A typical house is on a 2 to 2-1/2 acre lot (Eureka Estates was platted with 2-1/2, since then the minimum was reduced to 2 acres. Put a typical nice middle-class home on it and the property tax will be in the range of 4000-5000 dollars, and an accessory building may bring it to the 5000-6000 range. Still in 1500-2500 dollars per acre range.
Eureka’s share of property tax is about 20%, the rest going to the County and whichever school district you are in. So Eureka gets $300-$500 per acre in this typical example.
The only real addition to tax revenue is if the building constructed, by whatever zoning name or type, is valued 2-3 times higher than the average house with a modest accessory building like my 32x40 storage building.
And, gee, if we are so concerned about squeezing every penny, as we should be, why do we pay $995 a year for simple software to hold our ordinances on our website? Then we pay hundreds extra for the service provider to “review” each amendment. No, they don’t have the knowledge to actually review our language and features. No other township and only three small cities in the entire State contract with them. Putting ordinances up as simple downloadable pdf files and having a table of contents linking to each section is NOT rocket science. The hard work is creating the actual text for public hearing and Board approval BEFORE sending it to them. Come to think of it, that isn’t even done diligently here anymore….
A Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year to all as we give thanks for all we have that matters. 😊
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