City of Chanhassen Receives Highest Bond Rating of AAA from Standard & Poor's!
The Finance Department is responsible for preparing the budget, capital improvements program (CIP), and consolidated annual financial report. These are the basic documents that show how the city intends to raise funds to pay for operations, capital equipment and infrastructure, and report on how closely we managed to budget for those costs. We also prepare utility bills, special assessment records, and payroll for city staff.
Click on the following topics for more detailed information:
Budget
The annual budget is prepared each year during the months of July through December. That seems like an extremely long time to put together this type of plan, but it includes the preparation of notices to property owners so that they can see the effect that proposed changes in the tax levies from the city, county, school district and other taxing authorities have on their individual property.
The process starts in July when the department directors meet with their staff members to determine the cost to provide necessary services for the next year and the best method to charge for those services. Those costs are put into a preliminary plan that the city council reviews in August prior to adopting a preliminary tax levy that is certified to Carver County by September 15th.
Carver County staff then coordinates with Hennepin County to determine the total taxable property in the city, and spreads our tax levies over the entire taxable tax capacity to determine the tax rates. Those rates are then applied to all properties in the city. Notices are to each property owner by the respective counties showing the change in taxes by jurisdiction along with the date, time, and location of the Truth in Taxation hearing for each entity. These dates are usually set for late November through early December. The City Council then holds their Truth in Taxation hearing where the public may comment regarding the proposed budget and tax levy. At the next regular meeting following the hearing, the city council may then adopt a final budget and levy, incorporating any changes that they believe should be made based on the public input received.
2010 Budget
Taxes
Property taxes are levied by many jurisdictions in the state of Minnesota. The primary recipients of property taxes (in approximate order of magnitude) are the school districts, counties, and cities. Other taxing jurisdictions have minor levies to fund the Metropolitan Council, various watershed districts, and some other minor functions.
Taxes are levied on two different bases: tax capacity (TC) and estimated market value (EMV). Estimated market value is the easier of the concepts to understand. It is merely the total Assessor’s market value for each taxable piece of property in a jurisdiction. For EMV tax levies, every property pays at the same rate based on property value.
The tax capacity is calculated by taking the EMV and multiplying it by a statutory formula based on the classification of the property and its value. The categories are numerous, but the primary ones are agricultural, homesteaded residential, non-homesteaded residential, apartments, and commercial-industrial. Each of the categories has a different percentage rate that generally increases in the order presented. All of these calculated values are then totaled and the tax levy is determined by dividing the total tax levy by the total tax capacity. Each property is then taxed a proportional share based on their tax capacity. The effect of this tax basis is that apartments and commercial-industrial properties shoulder a greater property tax burden than a straight percentage of their value would indicate.
To determine the amount of tax on your property, you may visit the appropriate county web site and look up your tax information:
Carver County, Hennepin County
For more information, contact Greg Sticha, Finance Director.
Capital Improvement Program
The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is a five-year estimate of major expenditures for land, infrastructure and equipment to provide service to residents. The CIP includes all items over $5,000 that the city intends to purchase as replacements for existing equipment, new equipment, building construction and major repairs, and infrastructure such as streets, parks and trails, and sewer and water lines. The prospective funding sources are outlined along with estimated costs. The expenses for the next fiscal year are incorporated into the annual budget, as are tax levies to support debt service when bonds are issued to finance the construction.
2010-2014 Capital Improvement Program
Audit
The City of Chanhassen has an audit performed by an independent certified public accounting (CPA) firm each year as required by state law. The firm determines whether the city has been following generally accepted accounting practices and tests transactions to verify that procedures have been followed properly. Our auditors have given the city an unqualified opinion that our financial statements are an accurate reflection of the city’s financial health. The city also participates in the Government Finance Officers Association program to evaluate the clarity with which we present our financial information. The Finance Department has received the “Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting” for the past nine years and intends to continue participating in the program.
For more information about our financial audit, contact Greg Sticha, Finance Director.
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Year Ended December 31, 2009
Utility Billing
On a quarterly basis, the City of Chanhassen bills for municipal water and sewage fees. Each property in the city that is connected to the municipal system receives a bill for actual water usage. Commercial/industrial users are billed for sewage consumption equal to their water usage. For residential customers, the charge for sewage is based on the winter quarter usage. That means the bills received in February, March or April for water used from November-January, December-February, and January-March respectively, generally shows the lowest water consumption because residents aren’t watering their lawns, filling swimming pools, washing cars, or any of the other outdoor uses that don’t go into the sewage system. That base is used throughout the year to calculate the sewage charge. The water charge is based on actual consumption each quarter. The water meter is read once a quarter and the amount used is rounded to the nearest 1,000 gallons of usage and billed accordingly.
Utility Billing Web Page - Access this site for details on rates, payment options, and frequently asked questions about utility billing.
Levied Assessments
If you would like to find out if an assessment listed has been paid since the beginning of the year, please send an email to Danielle Washburn including the information below for the assessment you are questioning. Once we receive all the information below, a reply email will be sent indicating if the assessment has been paid or is still active.
- Property address
- Parcel Identification Number (PID)
- Taxpayer
- Assessment Code
- Initial Assessment Amount
Click HERE to view the list of levied assessments as of January 1, 2010.
Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information; however, neither the City of Chanhassen nor its employees assume any liability in the event of an error or omission.
Pending Assessments
The following list includes all property addresses with pending assessments in 2010. If the property you are interested in is on the list, please send an email to Danielle Washburn including the information below and we will send an email reply with the details of that property's pending assessment.
- Parcel Identification Number (PID)
- Property Address
- Legal Description
- Project
Click HERE to view the list of pending assessments in 2010.
Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information; however, neither the City of Chanhassen nor its employees assume any liability in the event of an error or omission.