See more of the story

Mayor Betsy Hodges' proposed 2.4 percent property tax levy increase cleared a first hurdle Wednesday, winning the approval of the city's Board of Estimate and Taxation.

The board, which has members from the City Council, Park and Recreation Board, along with Minneapolis residents, considers changes to the levy before they are forwarded on to the council for approval. Hodges' plan calls for the tax levy to bring in an additional $6.7 million, for a total of $288 million.

Most of that money would be spent on debt payments for a stepped-up street repair program implemented by former Mayor R.T. Rybak. The impact of the levy increase will vary; an analysis presented to the board showed about 57 percent of properties will end up with a smaller tax bill, while 43 percent will pay more.

"More than half of this proposed increase is simply to account for inflation," Hodges said in a statement. "Even with this modest increase, half of Minneapolis' residential properties will see no increase -- or will even see a decrease -- in the City portion of their property taxes."