MN Public Tools, independent public-records research by Dan Swenson.
Grow the tax base
How much development of each kind it would take to move the city tax rate, in acres, at the adopted 2026 levy and tax base.
Runs on the adopted payable-2026 budget: the local levy of $2,179,043 over $9,197,371 of tax capacity, the 23.69% city rate.
Inputs
10 means a tax base 10% bigger than today’s.
The average existing Nowthen residential homestead, from the official DOR homestead aggregate (Residential Homestead NTC ÷ Residential Homestead Count), spread over an assumed five-acre lot.
To grow the local tax base by 10%, at $958 of locally retained tax capacity per acre (the taxable base the rate is charged on, not the tax bill).Calculated
24 forties ≈ 6 quarter sections ≈ 1.5 sections
One square = one forty = 40 acres. 16 forties = one section (640 acres). Abstract blocks, not a map of any actual parcel.
Equivalent average existing homes
≈ 192
960.4 acres on five-acre lots, for scale
Gross annual city revenue at today’s rate
$217,904
23.692% of retained tax capacity
City rate if the levy stayed constant
23.692% → 21.538%
≈ $103.14 a year less on the average existing home
These figures show tax-base math before any added service costs. New homes and businesses also bring road, policing, fire, administration, and capital costs, and this tool counts only the road costs you enter. The five-acre-lot figure shows scale. It is not a forecast of what land could or will develop.
How many acres would it take?
The same goal, compared across development types using each type's default taxable value. Open one to load it into the result above.