Taxes

Paying Your Property Tax

St. Louis County provides the option to pay your property taxes in two installments according to the property's classification as well as provides for a variety of options for submitting your property tax payments. If a due date falls on a weekend, the due date is extended to the following business day. Your payment must be postmarked on or before the due date or penalties will apply.

Brandon Larson - Tax Division Manager

Pay your taxes and Current Tax Lookup for General Public

Deadlines

Payment Options

Reports

FAQ's

Taxation - Property Tax Due Dates and Payment Options

1st Half Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes are due on May 15th.

2nd Half Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes are due on October 15th.

1st Half Manufactured Home Taxes are due on August 31st.

2nd Half Manufactured Home Taxes are due on November 15th.

1st Half Agricultural Property Taxes are due on May 15th.

2nd Half Agricultural Property Taxes are due on November 15th.

By Mail

Your payment must be postmarked on or before the due date or penalties will apply.

Make Checks Payable to: St. Louis County Auditor

Mail to:
St. Louis County Auditor
St. Louis County Courthouse
100 N 5th Avenue West #214
Duluth, MN 55802

In-Person

Current property taxes can be paid by check or cash at the following locations:

Duluth:
St. Louis County Courthouse
100 N 5th Avenue West #214
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 726-2380

Service Center (auxiliary site)
1600 Miller Trunk Hwy, Ste L22B
Duluth, MN 55811
(218) 279-2520

Virginia:
Northland Office Building
307 S 1st St.
Virginia, MN 55792
(218) 749-7104

Escrowed

Your lending institution may be escrowing your taxes for you. This means that you are paying a portion of your property tax in every payment you make to them. Your tax money is kept in a special escrow account. The escrow agent is responsible for paying your property taxes by the due date.

If you aren't certain if your taxes are escrowed, contact your mortgage company or lending institution.

E-Pay

When you pay your property taxes online through SameDayPay, you request an electronic fund transfer from your designated bank account. Upon receipt of the request, SameDayPay makes an electronic transfer via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system from your U.S. bank account to St. Louis County.

This service is offered for a $3.00 fee which is charged and retained by SameDayPay.

If you are paying prior year taxes, you must call (218) 726-2383 for a payoff amount.

To continue with this payment option, go to SameDayPay.

Credit Card

Paying Property Taxes with Credit Cards:

Instructions for Paying Property Taxes with Credit Cards

You can now pay your property taxes with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover credit card. This option is offered through Official Payments Corporation.

You will need to know:

your parcel number and the amount of your tax. This information is on your property tax statement.

If your taxes are delinquent, you will need to contact the County Auditor at
218-726-2383 to obtain the correct amount to pay.

If you use our web site to find your taxes, please take note: The tax amount shown is the tax due for the full year. if you wish to pay only the 1st or 2nd half divide that amount by 2.

Official Payments Corporation will charge you a fee for this service. When you know the parcel number and amount, you may click on the link below to take you to the Official Payments Corporation Website where you will calculate your service fee and make your payment.

http://www.officialpayments.com

Q. When will I receive my 2012 property tax statement?

A. Real Estate and Personal Property tax statements are mailed in March each year. The statutory deadline is March 31.

Manufacture Home tax statements are mailed in July each year. The statutory deadline is July 15.

Q. What if I haven't received a tax bill?

A. If you have not received a property tax statement by the statutory mailing deadline, it is your responsibility to contact the Auditor's Tax Division to have a duplicate statement sent to you.

Q. How do I change the mailing address on my tax statement?

A. If your property tax statement has an incorrect address, contact the Auditor's Tax Division in writing with the correct address information. If you move or change your address, you must notify us of this change. Include your:

    1. Name
    2. Property Identification Number (PIN) for each property you own
    3. New mailing address

If you own multiple properties, check to make sure your current mailing address is listed for each one.

We do not forward tax statements, value notices or other types of notification. All undeliverable statements and notices are returned to us by the Post Office.

To update your address either:

    1. Mail the completed form on the back of the tax stub with your tax
         payment
         or
    2. Mail a letter with your address change information to:

            Auditor's Tax Division
            100 N. 5th Ave. W.
            Duluth, MN 55802
            Phone: 218 726-2383

Q. How are my property taxes calculated?

A. The Auditor's Tax Division computes your property taxes by multiplying the value of your property by the classification percentage then by the total tax rate of the district in which your property is located.

The value and classification of your property is determined by the Assessor's Office.

Q. Where do my property tax dollars go?

A. Property tax dollars are received by the County, school district, municipality and other local taxing districts in which you live.

The county portion of your property tax dollars are used to fund services such as county libraries, parks, county roads and community services.

Q. When are property taxes due?

A. May 15 First half of the annual real estate and personal property tax payment (or the entire amount if stated on your tax statement) is due.

May 31 First half of the annual resort property tax payment (or the entire amount if stated on your tax statement) is due.

August 31 First half of the annual manufactured home tax payment (or entire amount if stated on your tax statement) is due.

October 15 Second half of the annual real estate and personal property tax payment is due (non-agricultural parcels only).

November 15 Second half of the annual real estate (agricultural parcels only) and manufactured home tax payment is due.

If the due date falls on a weekend, the payment is due the following business day. Payments mailed to our office must be postmarked on or before the tax due date.

Q. Can I make a partial payment on my current year taxes?

A. The St. Louis County Auditor's Tax Division accepts payments of more or less than the exact amount of a tax installment due for the current year. If the accepted payment is less than the amount due, it is applied first to the penalty accrued for the year that the payment is made (M.S. 277.01; 279.01, SUBD. 1).

Q. What if my property tax payment is late?

A. If you pay your tax after the due dates, a penalty will be added to your tax (M.S. 277.01). The later you pay, the greater the penalty you must pay. For details, check the back of your property tax statement.

Q. What if I become delinquent in my property taxes?

A. Property taxes become delinquent January 1st in the year following the payable year. Interest and penalty accrue on a monthly basis. The property is put into judgment and the forfeiture process begins.

Residential homestead property and rural property will forfeit into the name of the State of Minnesota if it remains delinquent for five years. All other property types go into forfeiture after three years of delinquency.

Q. What if I overpay my taxes?

A. If there is an overpayment of your current year taxes, a refund will be issued by the Auditor's Department.

Refunds will be sent to the party who made the payment. For questions, call: 218 725-5124 or 218 726-2383.

Q. What is a Truth-in-Taxation (TNT) Notice?

A. The Truth-in-Taxation (TNT) Notice, also called the Proposed Tax Notice is mailed to property owners during November of each year. This notice indicates the anticipated property tax you will pay in the following year if your local jurisdictions approve the budget amounts they are considering. Property owners are invited to attend meetings held by their local jurisdictions to express their opinion on local budgets.

Q. Can the amount of property tax due on my tax statements be different from the amount on my proposed tax notice?

A. Yes, for the following reasons:

The proposed tax notice does not include special assessments.
Referendums passed could result in increasing the tax amounts.
Property owners who occupy their property by December 1 can file for
homestead classification for the following year.

Q. What is a Fiscal Disparity tax?

A. Fiscal disparity is a commercial-industrial tax-base sharing program created in 1971 in the iron range area to promote better regional planning and improve equity in the distribution of fiscal resources. Forty percent of the growth in commercial and industrial property is "shared" with all taxing jurisdictions in the seven-county metropolitan area. A percentage of the value of each commercial/industrial parcel is taxed at a uniform metropolitan tax rate. The remainder is taxed at the local tax rate.

Q. What is Tax Increment tax?

A. A number of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts have been created within St. Louis County. TIF is a program which allows the increased property taxes generated by a development to pay for development costs.

Tax Increment Financing is not an additional tax. Tax Increment Financing does not affect the calculation of the tax amount; rather, it affects the distribution of the tax. The tax due is calculated the same as for a property that is not in a TIF district, but money that would normally go to the county, city, school, and special taxing districts is instead diverted to the TIF district.

Q. What are Special Taxing Districts?

A. A special taxing district can include any other political subdivision of the State of Minnesota that has the power to adopt and certify a property tax levy as determined by the Commissioner of Revenue. For the purposes of property taxation, these special taxing districts may include: watershed districts, sanitary sewer districts, regional public library districts, regional railroad districts, hospital districts, regional development commissions, housing and redevelopment authorities, port authorities, economic development authorities or any other political subdivision of the State of Minnesota.

Q. What is a Special Assessment?

A. A Special Assessment is an improvement (such as streets, etc.) which directly benefits the property. It is shown as a separate amount on the property tax statement. The amount is based on how much the property benefits from the improvement and the cost of doing the project. It is not based on the value of the property.

Q. Who do I contact with tax questions?

A.     Auditor's Tax Division
        100 N. 5th Ave. W.
        Duluth, MN 55802
        Phone: 218 726-2383
        Fax: 218 725-5060

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