Dakota County staff recommended lowering the standards for county building upkeep in the five-year capital improvement program (CIP) 2026-2030 during the Aug. 19 budget workshop. The change comes in a tough budget year for the county with final staff recommendations for levy increase at 9% with a proposed $8.5 million in cuts currently.

Five-year CIP

The total proposed budget for the 2026 CIP program is $142,377,200, with the five-year total falling just below $900 million.

One of the major changes within the program is decreasing the standards by which Dakota County facilities would be upkept.

Currently, Dakota County facilities are measured by a facility condition index (FCI) which measures the near-term requirement and renewal costs of a facility over their current replacement value.

The percent created from that equation allows county staff to measure the facility’s condition compared to the cost of its replacement with smaller percents meaning higher condition.

The five-year CIP plan proposes shifted maintenance requirements down from good which is considered 11%-20% FCI to fair which is considered 21%-40% FCI.

Examples provided for these ratings include the Hastings Dakota County Administration center and the Farmington Library which are considered in good condition and the Dakota County Judicial Center in Hastings and the Western Service Center in Apple Valley which are considered fair.

Dakota County Manager Heidi Welsch called this shift “Not ideal,” saying it was an outcome of low county reserves.

This move is estimated to save the county $81 million over the next five years. This downshift is still estimated to cost the county $41 million more than 2025 funding levels.

“Deferred maintenance is something that concerns me […] these things can turn into emergencies,” said Commissioner Laurie Halverson.

Projects in 2026 include construction on the Burnhaven Library in Burnsville, work on river access at Spring Lake Park Reserve, and the County Highway 42 and Highway 52 interchange.

Greenways have a budget of $8.9 million for 2026.

Fifty-seven of the aspired 197 miles of greenway have been created in the county, with another 51 miles of greenway already planned.

Greenways and parks continue to be one of the highest rated amenities within Dakota County, appearing several times throughout recent county surveys including the third and fourth highest rated county characteristics in the 2025 survey for bike and pedestrian transportation options and outdoor recreational opportunities respectively.

 Budget

Dakota County staff provided a final recommendation on the levy at a 9% increase for 2026. This recommendation comes after the July 23 budget workshop where a range of 8-10% levy increase was discussed in order to offset next year’s levy increase.

The spike in levy increase for 2026 comes even as future, larger increases are expected with the 2027 levy increase estimated to be 11.1% and the 2028 levy increase to be 9.7%.

“If you think this year is hard, I personally believe 2027 is going to be harder,” said Commissioner Mike Slavik.

Further levy increases this year would directly offset levy increases in 2027, of which commissioners largely seemed wary.

“I firmly believe that government shouldn’t take a dollar out of households’ pockets and put it into our savings,” said Commissioner Droste.

The alternative was further cuts which would “mostly come from library budgets if we cut more,” said Welsch.

Commissioners had previously shied away from cuts to libraries, calling them hubs for other county programming from public health to social services programming. At they workshop, however, they requested further options on cuts to library budgets.

The board will vote on the 2026 budget in December.