Cottage Grove, MN · Updated Oct 2026

What a Cottage Grove house pays

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Sent only to free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Cottage Grove house

$9,536a year · $795 a month

Starts at $367,700 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$4,659
1.558% of $367,700, less $500,000 1.00% class rate on the first $500,000 and less $13,457 homestead market value exclusion
Electricity and gas$2,335
587.82 kWh a month $1,198 · 71 therms $1,052 · franchise fee (passed through by Xcel) $84
Water and sewer$768
7,000 gallons a month on City of Cottage Grove: water $13, sewer $38, stormwater (single-family home) $7, street lights (city-owned, residential lot) $7 a month
TrashNot included
Residents pick one of the three licensed residential haulers, which must also offer recycling pickup
Home insurance$1,774
Typical premium $1,774

A typical Cottage Grove house pays about $9,500 a year: $4,660 property tax and charges, $770 water and sewer, $2,330 electricity and gas, $1,770 home insurance; trash is billed separately. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 21, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

File for homestead
Homestead is a property classification for homes occupied by the owner or a qualifying relative as their primary residence; it can make you eligible for the homestead market value exclusion and the property tax refund (relative homesteads do not qualify for the refund).
How: Apply online with Washington County by December 31 for taxes payable the following year.
Claim the Minnesota property tax refund
Homeowners with 2025 total household income under $142,490 may qualify for the homestead credit refund; a special refund applies when net property tax rises at least 12 percent and at least $100.
How: File Form M1PR with the Minnesota Department of Revenue by August 15 (you may file up to one year late).
Seniors 65+: defer part of your property tax
Property Tax Deferral for Senior Citizens limits the tax you pay to 3% of total household income; the state pays the remainder as a loan, repaid with interest when you sell or cancel.
How: You must be 65 or older (if married, the other spouse at least 62), have household income of $96,000 or less and have owned, lived in and homesteaded the home for 5 years; apply by November 1.
Veterans with a 70%+ disability rating: market value exclusion$150,000 or $300,000 off market value
Honorably discharged veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 70% or higher who own and occupy a homestead on December 31 can get a $150,000 market value exclusion; a 100% permanent and total rating qualifies for $300,000.
How: Apply with Washington County using its application for veterans with disabilities.
Pay property tax by eCheck, not card
Washington County charges a $0.75 fee to pay online by eCheck and 2.35% (minimum $1.49) by card.
How: Choose eCheck when paying online, or mail a check postmarked by the due date.
Free food scrap bags and drop-off
Cottage Grove residents can order a free annual supply of food scrap bags and put the filled bags in their trash cart, or use the free 24/7 food scraps drop-off behind Public Works.
How: Sign up at FoodScrapsPickup.com or call 651-661-9393; the drop-off is at 8635 West Point Douglas Road.

Money dates

Nov 1in 9 daysSenior citizen property tax deferral applications due to defer the following year's taxes
Dec 31in 69 daysHomestead applications due to Washington County for taxes payable the following year
May 15First half of Washington County real property taxes due; monthly penalties begin if not paid by the due date
Aug 15Minnesota property tax refund (Form M1PR) due; you may still file up to one year late

Who serves this house

Water: City of Cottage Grove; City of Cottage Grove, billed monthly on the city utility bill
Property tax: 1.56% of value; 2026 taxes payable, Washington County (Cottage Grove urban tax areas 1903/1904: South Washington County Schools ISD 833, South Washington Watershed District)
Garbage: Licensed private haulers; Three licensed residential haulers (Tennis Sanitation, Tennis Brothers Sanitation and Waste Management) collect trash and must also offer recycling pickup
Sewer: City of Cottage Grove; Billed monthly; from the April bill, sewer usage is based on the lower of your winter average or actual water use
Electricity: Xcel Energy; Xcel Energy serves Cottage Grove with electricity and gas; the City adopted a 3.75% electric franchise fee in August 2023
Gas: Xcel Energy; Xcel Energy's gas rate book lists Cottage Grove in its service area; CenterPoint Energy also serves gas customers in the City
Schools: South Washington County Schools (ISD 833); Washington County's 2026 tax examples for Cottage Grove use ISD 833, the school district and watershed combination with the most residential value in the city; some parts of the city are in ISD 200 (Hastings)

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: Groundwater from 13 wells, 284 to 475 feet deep, in the Jordan aquifer
Hardness: 298 ppm, or 17 grains
PFAS: In 2025 the City supplied only water treated for PFAS; PFOA results ranged from 0 to 2.6 ppt, with a highest average or single result of 1.9 ppt (EPA limit 4.0 ppt). Five interim treatment plants remove PFAS, the Low Zone Water Treatment Plant started in June 2025, and the work is fully funded by the 3M Settlement
Lead: The 90th-percentile lead result was 1.5 ppb, with 0 of 30 homes over the action level; the Nov. 5, 2025 service line inventory listed 0 lead lines and 489 of unknown material

Other MN cities

How these numbers are made

Property tax: Washington County's final certified 2026 payable rates for Cottage Grove's urban tax areas 1903 and 1904 (South Washington County Schools ISD 833 and the South Washington Watershed District, the county's example combination with the most residential value in the city): 101.50833796% of tax capacity (county 24.449%, city urban rate 39.857%, ISD 833 33.228%, Met Council, mosquito control, CDA, regional rail, transit and Cottage Grove HRA 3.231%, watershed 0.743%) plus 0.28926727% of market value for the ISD 833 and county library referendum levies. The state general tax does not apply to homesteads.
Minnesota taxes a home on tax capacity: 1.00% of taxable market value up to $500,000 and 1.25% above, so each tax-capacity rate is applied at 1.00% and one extra line adds 0.25% times 101.508% on value above $500,000. Owner-occupied homesteads also get the homestead market value exclusion, computed for the value you enter (40% of the first $95,000, reduced by 9% of value above $95,000, zero from $517,200; $13,457 at the $367,700 median); it comes off the tax-capacity parts only, and the referendum rate applies to full market value. At the median this gives about $4,660 a year; the same method reproduces the county's own Cottage Grove examples ($5,399 at $420,700 and $6,506 at $500,000). Without the homestead box the exclusion is dropped.
Other Cottage Grove tax areas pay different rates: rural service district areas in ISD 833 pay 91.260% of tax capacity; areas in ISD 200 (Hastings) pay 83.892% (urban) or 73.643% (rural) plus 0.19111% of market value.
Water and sewer: City of Cottage Grove 2026 fee table, billed monthly: water $3.72 single-family base charge, then $1.29, $1.95, $2.90 and $4.37 per 1,000 gallons for use up to 6,000, 9,000, 12,000 and above 12,000 gallons a month. Sewer is a $5.41 base charge plus $4.78 per 1,000 gallons; from the April bill the City bills sewer on the lower of your winter (December to February) average or actual use, so we apply it to the water use you enter, which overstates sewer in months when you water a lawn. The page starts at 9 CCF (about 6,700 gallons) a month because the City publishes no typical use. Stormwater ($6.66 a month for a single-family home) and street lights ($6.83 a month per residential lot for city-owned lights; $8.22 where lights are Xcel-owned, $6.72 a year in rural areas) are counted as utility fees.
Electricity: Xcel Energy's $6.00 residential Basic Service Charge, and per kWh the 2024 average Xcel Minnesota residential revenue (EIA: $1,473 million over 8,677 GWh) less the basic charges, 15.96 cents. That average covers seasonal energy rates, the fuel cost charge and riders, but predates the interim rate increase in effect since January 2025 and the 2026 rate case decision; Xcel's current rate summaries are not readable as plain documents. Typical use: about 588 kWh a month (EIA 2024, Xcel Minnesota residential sales per customer). Cottage Grove's 3.75% electric and gas franchise fees (Ordinances 1069 and 1070, August 2023) are added as 3.75% of the electric and gas bills; Xcel lists Cottage Grove among the communities where it collects city fees.
Gas: we use Xcel Energy, which lists Cottage Grove in its gas service area and which the City lists for gas leaks; CenterPoint Energy also serves Cottage Grove (the City lists it as a gas provider and its tariff lists the 3.75% Cottage Grove franchise fee), and we could not find a source for each utility's share. Xcel's Minnesota gas tariffs are not readable as plain documents, so we fit a straight line (least squares) through the average monthly residential bills at interim rates in Xcel's official notice of its Oct. 31, 2025 rate filing ($43 at 30 therms, $65 at 50, $88 at 71, $119 at 100): about $10.61 a month plus $1.0858 per therm, which reproduces each bill within $1. Those bills include the cost of gas as of the filing (it moves monthly), and interim rates can be refunded with interest if the final rates are lower. Typical use: 71 therms a month, the typical residential customer in Xcel's notice. Garbage: Cottage Grove residents hire a licensed hauler and the City sets no trash price, so trash is not counted; add your hauler's price. Insurance: the 2022 NAIC statewide average premium for Minnesota (HO-3), until you enter your own.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Cottage Grove compares

A typical Cottage Grove house against the 35 Minnesota cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Cottage Grove	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.56%	1.49%	higher than 23 of the other 33 Minnesota cities we cover
Water	$155	$339	lower than 33 of the other 34 Minnesota cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$613	$621	lower than 18 of the other 34 Minnesota cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,335	$2,150	higher than 32 of the other 34 Minnesota cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,774	$1,774	in the middle of 34 other Minnesota cities we cover
Total	$9,536	$9,536	in the middle of 34 other Minnesota cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $155 a year at typical use, lower than 33 of the other 34 Minnesota cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $155 a year at typical use, lower than 33 of the other 34 Minnesota cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

2. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $2,335 a year, higher than 32 of the other 34 Minnesota cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.

Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $2,335 a year for a typical house, higher than 32 of the other 34 Minnesota cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Cottage Grove house costs

What is the property tax rate in Cottage Grove?

About 1.56% of the value before exemptions a year (2026 taxes payable, Washington County (Cottage Grove urban tax areas 1903/1904: South Washington County Schools ISD 833, South Washington Watershed District)), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Cottage Grove?

About $6,506 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the 1.00% class rate on the first $500,000.

How much is the water bill in Cottage Grove?

About $64 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on City of Cottage Grove.

How much does trash pickup cost in Cottage Grove?

Residents pick one of the three licensed residential haulers, which must also offer recycling pickup

When is property tax due in Cottage Grove?

Nov 1: Senior citizen property tax deferral applications due to defer the following year's taxes May 15: First half of Washington County real property taxes due; monthly penalties begin if not paid by the due date Aug 15: Minnesota property tax refund (Form M1PR) due; you may still file up to one year late

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Cottage Grove?

Yes. Seniors 65+: defer part of your property tax: Property Tax Deferral for Senior Citizens limits the tax you pay to 3% of total household income; the state pays the remainder as a loan, repaid with interest when you sell or cancel.

How much does a house in Cottage Grove cost to run each year?

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