Article: Ramsey County manager's budget surprises board; The proposal would require a 4.8 percent increase in the property tax levy.(NEWS)

Ramsey County Manager Paul Kirkwold surprised county commissioners Tuesday when he recommended a $459 million budget for next year that would require a 4.8 percent increase in the property tax levy - more than twice what commissioners wanted.

Kirkwold told them that, given the strong economy, the increase is reasonable. He listed the evidence: unemployment in Ramsey County is 2.4 percent, lower than the state's 2.8 percent; statisticians project more than 54,000 new jobs in the county in the next 20 years; and the county's per capita personal income in 1998 was $32,863, the second-highest in the state.

Kirkwold estimated that his proposed increase would ...

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