Minnesota boosts homestead credit refund for Beltrami County homeowners

Beltrami County homeowners who qualify for Minnesota’s homestead credit refund will get a bigger payment automatically, with the state saying the one-time boost is nearly 15% larger than originally filed amounts. For many households, the extra money should show up in late summer and early fall without any amended return or extra paperwork.

The increase was folded into a tax bill signed by Gov. Tim Walz in late May after action by the Minnesota Legislature. Revenue Commissioner Paul Marquart said the department moved quickly so homeowners would not need to take extra steps, and people who already filed a 2025 refund do not need to amend anything because eligible returns will be adjusted automatically.

The refund, long known as the circuit breaker, is aimed at homeowners whose property taxes are high compared with income. To qualify, a homeowner generally must be a Minnesota resident, have owned and lived in the same home on Jan. 2, 2025 and Jan. 2, 2026, have household income under $142,490, have the home classified as homestead with the county and owe no delinquent property taxes. The one-time increase also applies only where net property tax rose by more than 12%.

That means the new money will not fully touch every tax bill in the county. A homeowner whose refund was near the state average of $1,129 in the 2022 program would see roughly $170 more from a 15% increase, enough to soften a smaller increase but not erase a larger one. Statewide, preliminary 2026 notices showed average levy increases of 8.7% for cities and 8.1% for counties, and those pressures are feeding the higher refunds.

Homeowners who have not filed the 2025 refund can still do so, including free online filing, and qualifying claims may be submitted until Aug. 16, 2027. The Department of Revenue said filings made between June 5 and mid-July 2026 will be adjusted automatically, while later filings will include the increase upfront. Paper forms and software providers are expected to be updated by mid-July, and the department will not send letters to impacted taxpayers.

Beltrami County adds one more deadline: homeowners must own, occupy and apply for homestead status by Dec. 31 of the current year to get the benefit on next year’s property taxes. For owners in Bemidji and across the county, the credit remains a targeted refund, not a blanket break, and its biggest value will go to households with high taxes relative to income.