Andover apartment property taxes are set through a Minnesota system that taxes most rental buildings with four or more units as class 4a property at a class rate of 1.25% of market value. Anoka County assessors value each building as of January 2, and the bill is that building’s net tax capacity multiplied by the combined local tax rates of the City of Andover, Anoka County and the school district, plus any voter-approved levies charged on market value.
This guide explains who values Andover apartment buildings, how classification works, how a value becomes a bill, the deadlines for appeals and payments, and the programs that can lower the tax on qualifying units.
A small rental market inside a homeowner city
Andover is a city in Anoka County in the northern Twin Cities suburbs. The Census Bureau’s QuickFacts for Andover counted 32,601 residents in 2020 and estimated 33,874 as of July 1, 2025. Andover is overwhelmingly owner-occupied: the owner-occupied housing rate for 2020–2024 was 94.1%, so only about 6% of households rent. The median gross rent for those renters was $2,037, high for the region and a reflection of a rental stock that leans toward newer and larger units.
The tax base tells the same story. Anoka County’s Pay-2026 values and tax capacity report puts Andover’s total estimated market value at $5,385,345,900. Of that, homestead residential property accounts for $4,587,821,100, while non-homestead residential property, the category that includes apartment buildings along with other rentals, totals $486,516,500, roughly 9% of the city’s market value. Non-homestead residential property produces $5,085,698 of the city’s $55,559,856 in total tax capacity, a similar share.
For an apartment owner, that has two consequences. Your building is one of relatively few income properties in the city, so assessors have fewer local apartment sales to compare against. And because homesteads dominate the base, most of the city, county and school levies are carried by homeowners, so apartment owners have a strong interest in the same levy decisions homeowners follow each fall.
Who values Andover apartment buildings
Andover does not have its own city assessor. Anoka County’s assessment staff value property in Andover, and the county’s assessor contact list places the city under its own personnel.
Key features of the county process:
- One valuation date. The Anoka County assessment page states that the assessment date is January 2 each year. Your building’s estimated market value reflects its condition and market as of that date.
- Regular physical review. Minnesota Statute 273.08 requires every parcel to be physically viewed at least once every five years. The county’s 2025 assessment notice listed apartments and manufactured home parks not reviewed in the previous five years among the properties scheduled for review from May through September 2025.
- Notices in spring. The county mails valuation notices on or before April 1. For the 2026 assessment, the county indicated that value notices and tax statements would be mailed in March 2026.
Anoka County does not publish a page describing its apartment valuation method. In practice, Minnesota’s appeal rules for income-producing property, discussed below, require owners to supply rent rolls and operating statements, which indicates how central income data is to valuing apartments.
Class 4a and the other rental classes
Minnesota does not tax every property at the same percentage of value. Each property gets a classification, and each class carries a class rate that converts market value into tax capacity. The Minnesota Department of Revenue’s class rate table for taxes payable in 2026 lists the rental classes that matter to Andover owners:
- Class 4a, residential non-homestead with four or more units: 1.25% of market value.
- Class 4b(1), residential non-homestead with one to three units: 1.25%.
- Class 4bb(1), single-unit non-homestead residential: 1.00% on the first $500,000 of value and 1.25% above that.
- Class 4d(1), qualifying low-income rental units: a flat 0.25%.
None of these classes pays the state general tax, which in Minnesota falls on commercial-industrial and seasonal recreational property. Class 4a property is, however, subject to referendum levies that are charged on market value rather than tax capacity.
The definition in Minnesota Statutes section 273.13 is specific: class 4a is “residential real estate containing four or more units” rented for periods of 30 days or more, excluding property that qualifies for class 4d. A four-plex, a 24-unit walk-up and a 200-unit community are all class 4a unless some of their units qualify for 4d.
How Andover apartment property taxes are calculated
Minnesota’s calculation runs in four steps. Each one is visible on the county’s notices and statements, which makes it possible for an owner to check the math.
- Estimated market value. The county’s opinion of what the building would sell for as of January 2.
- Taxable market value. For most apartment buildings this equals estimated market value; it can differ when exclusions or deferrals apply.
- Net tax capacity. Taxable market value multiplied by the class rate, so 1.25% for a class 4a building.
- Tax. Net tax capacity multiplied by the sum of the local tax capacity rates, plus any market-value referendum rates multiplied by the referendum market value.
Andover’s Pay-2026 rates
Anoka County publishes historical tax rates by taxing district. For taxes payable in 2026, the main components for Andover property are:
- City of Andover: 35.530810% of tax capacity, down from 36.389% for Pay-2025. Parcels in the Lower Rum River watershed area carry a slightly higher combined city rate of 35.713818%.
- City market-value referendum: 0.000000%; Andover had no city referendum levy on market value for Pay-2026.
- Anoka County: 30.067283% without the library levy, or 31.762340% where the county library levy applies.
- Anoka-Hennepin School District (ISD 11): 13.028645% of tax capacity, plus a referendum rate of 0.184413% applied to market value.
Regional special taxing districts add smaller amounts on top, and a few Andover parcels may lie in a school district other than ISD 11, so the precise total depends on the parcel. The county’s tax statement lists every line for a specific property.
A worked illustration
Consider a hypothetical class 4a building in Andover with an estimated market value of $3,000,000, located in ISD 11 and subject to the county rate without the library levy:
- Net tax capacity: $3,000,000 × 1.25% = $37,500.
- City, county and school tax capacity rates combined: 35.530810% + 30.067283% + 13.028645% = 78.626738%.
- Tax capacity portion: $37,500 × 78.626738% ≈ $29,485.
- School referendum on market value: $3,000,000 × 0.184413% ≈ $5,532.
- Subtotal before special taxing districts: roughly $35,000, or about 1.17% of market value.
The illustration shows why a change in assessed value matters so much. Every $100,000 of added market value on a class 4a building adds $1,250 of net tax capacity and, at these rates, about $1,170 of annual tax before special districts. That figure feeds directly into net operating income and, through the cap rate, into the building’s value.
How income shapes an apartment valuation
Apartment buildings are bought and sold on the income they produce, so the appraisal question an assessor faces is close to the one a buyer asks: what would a typical investor pay for this stream of rent, after realistic vacancy and expenses? Under the income approach that appraisers commonly use for rental property, value is estimated by dividing a building’s stabilized net operating income by a market capitalization rate. A small change in either input moves the estimate noticeably, which is why the records an owner supplies on appeal matter.
That framework points to the issues worth checking when a valuation notice arrives:
- Unit count and mix. Confirm the county’s records match the actual number of units, bedrooms and any non-residential space.
- Condition. Deferred maintenance, a failing roof or outdated systems reduce what a buyer would pay; documentation from contractors carries weight.
- Actual rents and vacancy. A rent roll showing concessions, below-market legacy leases or elevated vacancy can support a lower value than one built on asking rents.
- Real operating expenses. Insurance, utilities paid by the owner, repairs and management costs all reduce net operating income, and trailing statements show what the building really earns.
- Classification. Make sure the building is classified as 4a, and that any units with a recorded rent and income restriction are being considered for 4d.
Gathering these items every winter, before the March notice, turns an appeal from a scramble into a routine review.
Deadlines for appeals, notices and payments
Minnesota’s calendar is fixed by statute, and missing a step can forfeit the next one.
Challenging a value
- Local Board of Appeal and Equalization. Andover holds a Local Board rather than an Open Book meeting. For the 2026 assessment, it met on Monday, April 20, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW.
- Appeal there first. The county’s appeals guidance explains that in cities with a Local Board, owners must appeal there before going to the County Board of Appeal and Equalization, which meets in June. The Department of Revenue’s assessment manual says the County Board may meet on any ten consecutive meeting days in June after the second Friday.
- Minnesota Tax Court. Owners may file in Tax Court up to April 30 of the year in which the taxes are payable, without first going through the local and county boards. For the 2025 assessment, the county lists the deadline as April 30, 2026.
- Income property records. Under Minnesota Statute 278.05, subdivision 6, an owner who appeals the value of income-producing property must give the assessor, by August 1 of the year the taxes are payable, year-end financial statements for the relevant years, a rent roll, the net rentable square footage and a proposed budget for the following year. Leases can be requested later, with 60 days to provide them.
Notices and payments
- Truth in taxation. Proposed levies were due for certification by September 30, 2026, and the Department of Revenue’s instructions schedule proposed tax notices for Taxes Payable 2027 to be mailed between November 11 and November 24, 2026. Final levies must be certified by December 28, 2026.
- Two installments. Under Minnesota Statute 279.01, when the tax exceeds $100, the first half is due by May 15 and the second half by October 15.
Lowering the tax on qualifying units
Class 4d(1) low-income rental classification
Owners who rent some units at restricted rents to income-qualified households may be able to have those units taxed at 0.25% instead of 1.25%. A 2023 law replaced the former two-tier 4d structure with the single flat rate. According to Minnesota Housing’s Low-Income Rental Classification program:
- At least 20% of the building’s units must meet one of the program’s criteria, such as rents and incomes restricted at or below 60% of area median income under a recorded agreement.
- Owners must apply every year, and the deadline is March 31 for taxes payable the following year. Late applications are not accepted.
- The fee is $10 per qualifying unit, with a maximum of $150.
- Units that do not qualify remain at the 1.25% class 4a rate.
On a unit valued at $150,000, the difference between 1.25% and 0.25% is $1,500 of net tax capacity; at the combined rates in the illustration above, that is roughly $1,180 a year in tax capacity-based tax for that unit.
Certificates of Rent Paid
Minnesota’s Renter’s Credit is claimed by tenants, but landlords carry a filing duty. The Department of Revenue’s 2026 renter guidance states that landlords must give each renter a Certificate of Rent Paid for each unit by January 31. If a landlord does not provide or correct the certificate, the renter can request a Rent Paid Affidavit from the department beginning February 1. Owners should build CRP preparation into their January close.
What this means for Andover owners
For owners and passive investors holding Andover apartment buildings, the property tax system reduces to a handful of practical habits:
- Read the spring notice the day it arrives. The value on the March notice drives the following year’s bill, and the Local Board meets in April.
- Keep income records appeal-ready. Assemble the trailing financials, rent roll, rentable square footage and next-year budget each year, since an income-property appeal requires them by August 1.
- Budget from rates, not last year’s bill. Multiply estimated value by 1.25% and by the combined local rates, then add market-value referendum amounts, rather than inflating the prior bill.
- Evaluate 4d for any rent-restricted units. The March 31 application deadline is firm, and the savings per qualifying unit are material.
- Track the payment dates. Escrow or reserve enough to cover the May 15 and October 15 installments, since penalties accrue on late payments.
- Watch the November proposed-tax notice. It previews next year’s levies and is the time to attend city, county and school truth-in-taxation meetings.
Because a recent sale price is strong evidence of market value, a buyer’s projected tax may differ from the current owner’s bill. Our state-by-state guide to rent control and property taxes compares Minnesota with other states, and our Andover market page collects local context for the city. To see how Andover fits among other markets in the state, visit our overview of Minnesota apartment markets.
Key takeaways on Andover’s tax system
Andover apartment buildings are valued by Anoka County as of January 2, classified as 4a at 1.25% of market value, and taxed at a combined rate built from the city, county and school district levies, with a small market-value referendum component. The system is transparent enough to check line by line, the appeal ladder runs from the April Local Board to the June County Board to Tax Court, and the low-income 4d classification offers a meaningful reduction for units that qualify. Owners who calendar those dates and keep their income records ready are in the best position to make sure their tax bill reflects what the building is worth.
