Flood caused over $9M in damage to structures in Rice County

The historic floods that hit southern Minnesota over the summer damaged or destroyed 212 buildings in Rice County, including 186 homestead properties.

The 212 buildings were valued at $39,518,600 before the flood, and $30,430,500 after the flood. That comes out to a total loss of $9,088,100 in property value in Rice County, specifically pertaining to structures.

The numbers come from Rice County Assessor Josh Schoen, who asked for two resolutions to be passed by the Rice County Board of Commissioners Tuesday morning. By passing the first resolution, the board designated the county as a Disaster or Emergency Area.

“If there is damage to homestead property, there’s a credit on next year’s taxes, as long as an executive council passes that,” Schoen said.

Commissioner Steve Underdahl asked how the loss in value is determined, which Schoen explained is by using the 2024 assessments and subtracting post-flood reassessments. He said these property owners will receive a credit on their 2025 taxes for whatever amount would’ve paid on the difference between the two values.

The second resolution was for Local Option Disaster Abatement and Credits, which applies to all structures that lost half or more of their value, whether homestead or not. Those property owners would be reimbursed for whatever they paid in 2024 taxes on the lost value, but also would get a credit for the 2025 taxes.

Only homestead owners get a tax credit for damage less than half of the total value of the property. Homestead and non-homestead owners whose property lost more than half their value get both a tax credit in 2025 and reimbursement for 2024 taxes paid on the lost amount.

Both resolutions passed unanimously. As for reimbursement or credits for non-structural damage, Schoen explained in a follow-up that FEMA or the Small Business Administration likely had programs for that, but the state’s reassessments are only applicable to structures and property taxes.