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• Nov 5, 2007 11:15 pm US/Central
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  Suburban Comparisons: The Most For Your Money

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Suburban Comparisons: The Most For Your Money

Reporting
Terri Gruca

The average commute for each of these suburbs is about 24 minutes. Yet when we asked Twin Cities Gas Prices.com for the price of gas for each of these communities over the last year, we found Chaska residents paid the least. About two cents less a gallon than anyone else which adds up to about $20 a year.

Not a huge difference but enough for Bill Thompson to notice.

"It seems cheaper here than where I spend most of my time," he said.

Electric
Energy is another big thing we spend money on.

"We have three kids, all girls so you try to make sure they turn the lights off," said Jim Honsa of Maplewood.

The average electric bill for these suburbs runs nearly $70 a month. However, in Apple Valley the same amount of energy costs families $2 less each month.

Here's the breakdown of the annual cost for an average size home which would use around 650KWh per month:

Apple Valley:  $774.24
Chaska:  $796.59
Maple Grove:  $792.97
Maplewood:  $798.25

The average monthly bill for a home that uses around 650KWh per month look like this:

Apple Valley:  $64.52
Chaska:  $66.38
Maple Grove:  $66.08
Maplewood:  $66.52

"That was interesting. That's enough that you could notice in that kind of a setting because energy is a big part of what we spend our money on," said Bergen.

Part of the reason is that Apple Valley has its own electric company, the Dakota Electric Association. Dakota Electric said more than 40 percent of Apple Valley residents participate in energy saving programs, which helps keep costs down.

Dakota Electric buys its power from Great River Energy and said it monitors prices closely to make sure it is competitive with Xcel Energy. Dakota Electric said its prices can fluctuate to being cheaper than Xcel to being more expensive depending on the prices it pays.

Chaska does not use Xcel either and charges all residential customers an 8 cent fee per KWh. The city said it does that to prevent having to add that to property taxes. According to the city, that money goes into the city's general fund and helps keep property taxes down.

Groceries
We also spent months comparing grocery prices by buying the same products on the same days. Amazingly, the prices were identical. There was only one trip where the price for a can of tomatoes cost 17 cents more in Chaska.

"That surprised me. I would expect to see some variation across in different communities," said Bergen.

Trash
Most people pay the same for trash service -- between $15 and $19 a month. The difference is in the taxes.

In Chaska, you only pay the state tax of 9.75 percent.

In Maplewood you pay the state tax, plus a county tax of 28 percent, which means you're paying almost 38 percent in taxes for trash pickup.

So, on the surface Chaska appears to be the least expensive places for trash pickup. However, on further examination we found the people in Chaska pay in a different area. There is a fee for trash included in their property taxes, a place most people wouldn't think to look.

Property Taxes
We did find variations in property taxes.

The average price for a home in these four suburbs is $240,000. At that amount you pay the least in taxes in Apple Valley.

Here's the average* amount you would pay in property taxes for a $240,000 home in each suburb:

Apple Valley:  $2,524
Maple Grove:  $2,706
Chaska:  $2,715
Maplewood:  $2,734

*Remember each area differs based on which school district you live in and which levies have passed.

However, overall Apple Valley residents pay about $200 less a year than people who live in a similar valued home in Maple Grove, Chaska or Maplewood.

Apple Valley credits growing commercial properties which have increased the tax base.

The Wrap-Up
Comparing these four suburbs we found they are all more alike than they are different especially when it comes to price. However, here's the breakdown:

Chaska wins on gas prices.
Apple Valley wins on energy prices.
Everybody tied on groceries.
And Apple Valley wins on property taxes.

So from the items we compared Apple Valley provides the best value for your dollar.

That may be explained by a few things: Apple Valley is not growing at the rate of say Maple Grove or Chaska. It has no need to build new schools, plus planning. City leaders say Apple Valley was designed as a community that thinks ahead.

For example: Road projects. Instead of patching roads like most communities do, years ago the city implemented a long-term 15 year plan where each instead road gets repaved. City planners say it costs more up front, but it lasts longer.

 

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