Budget

Digital Budget Book - an interactive, cloud-based look at the City of St. Joseph's budget

City budgets are not just financial documents. Done thoroughly, they reflect city plans, policies, and goals regarding services and sound resource management. When preparing the city budget the City Council provides input regarding goals, what programs and services citizens want in the city, and then look to sustaining or allocating funding for those goals.

Budget Document

The budget document is an important communication tool revealing a city’s plan for the coming year. The budget document tells departments what the spending goals for the year are within the constraints of the confined revenue sources. The digital budget book provides the documentation for the current budget year.

Budget Process

The budget process begins in May of each year with the council reviewing the overall operational draft budget and tax impact in mid to late August. Cities are required to adopt a preliminary budget no later than September 30th of each calendar year and a final budget no later than December 28. Once the preliminary budget is adopted, the levy amount to support the budget cannot be increased. Before adoption of a final budget, a public hearing (referred to as the Truth in Taxation Hearing) is conducted. The City of St. Joseph sets the public hearing date in September and is typically held the first Monday in December. 

Property Taxes

The property taxes paid by property owners in the City of St. Joseph helps provide services in the City of St. Joseph, St. Cloud School District, Stearns County and Sauk River Watershed District. The Minnesota property tax code is fairly complex. The videos below provide an overview of how property taxes help the local community provide services and how it effects a typical Minnesota family. The videos were created by the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC). Additional information regarding your property tax statement can be found at https://www.lmc.org/page/1/property-tax-state-funding-fiscal-issues.jsp.

Video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2V20az-UXw
Video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaWpiWNImgg
Video 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gM0xK0IsFQ

The link below is to the Stearns County website where residents can pay their property taxes.
Pay My Property Taxes