By Curtis Gilbert, Minnesota Public Radio News

If you rent an apartment in the state of Minnesota, there’s a good chance your rent will go up next year. High demand and the fewest vacancies in 10 years are two big reasons. But there’s another factor pushing rents up: a state change in property taxes.

To save about $261 million a year, state lawmakers this year overhauled a program designed to give property tax relief to homeowners. But in the process they caused local property tax burdens to shift away from lower value homes and onto other types of property.

“Higher value homes get hit by increased taxes. So do commercial properties, industrial properties. So do apartments,” said Chris Samuel, who calculates property taxes for Ramsey County.

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