I came to work in Eden Prairie on October 3rd, 1978 as an appraiser and I was appointed the City Assessor in 1984. My education background includes a BS in Business Administration with Finance Concentration from Mankato State. As the City Assessor my job is to make sure the annual assessment for property tax purposes is completed correctly and on time. Every year the Assessing Division values all of the property in the City for property tax purposes.
I came here because I sensed opportunity and room for personal growth. What I found was a City poised to accept rapid growth and change. I also discovered that although at first glance it seemed that Eden Prairie was being developed with a random shotgun pattern there was indeed a Comprehensive Plan for housing, business development, sewer and water expansion, transportation, parks and open spaces.
The issues that stand out from that time were highway congestion, taxes, the Flying Cloud Landfill, the gas shortage, inflation, and did I mention Taxes? But, despite all of these things the development of Eden Prairie chugged along as 1,000’s of housing units were built, the City’s office and industrial parks came into their own, and Eden Prairie steadily moved towards what it is today.
Today Eden Prairie is in many ways a top ten city. The park and open space plan has been mostly implemented. The Eden Prairie Schools are top-notch. There are many places for residents to work and shop. The City, private developers, Hennepin County, and the State of Minnesota have invested millions into improving transportation including Hwy 169 and the Bloomington Ferry Bridge and the road that many didn’t think would ever be built, the new Hwy 212/312 Freeway through Eden Prairie to Carver.
Along this journey of development it wasn’t always straight ahead, sometimes it was two steps forward and one step back. The debate over the proposed expansion of the Flying Cloud Landfill filled many meeting hours. The question of making Hwy 212/312 a toll-road made for some interesting discussions and meetings. The proposed expansion of the Flying Cloud Airport has had its share of meeting and discussions. Oh, did I mention taxes, the debate over wants and needs and who should pay for them has waxed and waned every since I came here.
The Eden Prairie City Councils have made a lot of good choices over the last 40 years, City staff has done an excellent job of following through and implementing these choices and our growth cycle was phenomenal.
Now most of our residential and commercial/industrial neighborhoods are in a stable period in their life cycles and some are ready for redevelopment. So looking forward the City is reviewing the Comprehensive Plans, setting a framework for redevelopment of the Major Center Area and the Golden Triangle Area, and generally fine-tuning the “Plan”.
What do these musings have to do with the City Assessor? As Scott Neal has said numerous times “the Assessor reports the news, he doesn’t make it” well everything I’ve talked about effects market values and how values change over time. In 1980 we had 9,000 parcels (1/2 of them vacant land) and the estimated market value of the City was $528 million as compared to 2007 with 22,285 parcels worth $9.97 billion with a tremendous diversity of rental and ownership housing types, very successful office and industrial parks, and tremendous shopping areas.
Of course no place and no time is perfect, we still have traffic issues, people are concerned about home values, gas prices are sky high and the stock market and retirement accounts are in turmoil.
As I look ahead I’m confident that the current and future City Council members will also make good decisions and Eden Prairie will continue on the path of excellence and that it will continue to be an interesting and challenging place to be the City Assessor and continue as a top-ten city. Oh, and did I mention Taxes?
