Fillmore County’s Truth in Taxation (TNT) hearing was held on December 2. County Administrator Bobbie Hillery explained TNT is about budget; it doesn’t address your property and its valuation.
Why do local taxing units of government hold these meetings? Because they are required by Minnesota law.
In 1988 the legislature passed a law requiring TNT hearings to encourage the public to participate. It gives taxpayers an opportunity to learn about and get involved in the tax and budgeting process.
This public hearing is required for each local government unit after proposed property tax notices are sent out to property owners for the coming year’s property taxes. The local government then holds a hearing where public testimony is allowed before the local government unit adopts its final tax levy.
The hopeful conclusion of this reporter is that the public, by not attending these meetings for the purpose of learning about the budget, signals satisfaction with the work of their local government.
People who do attend TNT meetings generally are upset by the proposed tax notice they just received. They come with concerns about their valuations and proposed property tax increase.
Fillmore County has the assessor and appraisers at the TNT meeting to give people a chance to discuss their tax notices. Unfortunately, people who have come to the meeting leave to meet with staff from the assessor’s office before the hearing information is presented at the TNT meeting.
Hillery first gives a detailed report on the 2026 preliminary budget and levy.
She reviews county government activities in 2025. This includes going through a public budget process for each county department. The county has conformed with legislative changes like the Minnesota Paid Leave Act. Succession planning is important; Hillery noted, for example, there is currently a position of “engineer in training.”
Hillery went through each of the Performance Measures. In 2010 the legislature created the Council for Local Results and Innovation. Participation is voluntary. Fillmore County submitted 13 performance measure results for 2024, the last full year.
The reduction of total number of accidents on roads, the maintenance of pavement quality, percentage of low birth-weights lower than national benchmark, meeting the ten day turn-around for document recording, 100% post-election results, the increase by 5% state and federal dollars brought into county for veterans’ benefits, maintenance of 85% of veterans receiving services, and the goal to keep debt service levy under 10% were all met or exceeded.
Misses included keeping tobacco use lower than national benchmark, child support program effectiveness (slight miss), median ratio between 90% and 105% for three types of assessment ratios (miss on commercial/industrial classification), goal of 5,000 library annual visits, and 35% recycling rate of municipal solid waste.
For 2025 the board has added three additional goals including crime rates, maintenance of a bridge sufficiency rating of 89, and percentage of children where there is a recurrence of maltreatment within 12 months.
Budget
All departmental budgets were presented by the end of August. The original proposed levy was an increase of 16.68%. This was cut back before approval of the 2026 preliminary levy which is at $14,551,646, or a 5.99% increase. Much of the increase is due to salary (3% increase for non-union and 3.5% for union employees), health insurance (up 7.9%) and other insurances, and capital equipment (Capital Replacement Program) increases.
County Program Aid in 2026 will be decreased by $36,954 (from $1,172,722 to $1,135,768). Hillery noted the way the county spends funds has been pretty consistent through the years.
The county continues to look at options for shared positions and positions to support the county’s goals. Departments will continue to look at opportunities to enhance revenue through grants and program utilization.
Hillery praised the department heads for their work, saying they do a great job and work together.
There was no comment from the public at the end of this detailed presentation.
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