Dakota County is the third largest county in Minnesota with a population of 422,000 residents that is forecast to grow to 475,000 by 2030. Our land use is a mixture of about one-third urban, one-third suburban and one-third rural covering 587 square miles in area. More importantly, we are striving to make and keep Dakota County a premier county with 4 goals: make this a great place to live, create a healthy environment with quality natural areas, develop a successful place for business and jobs, and provide excellence in public service.
Our recent successes:
- Dakota County is the lowest taxed county in Minnesota 🎉 our residents pay 29% less in county taxes per household than the metro county average
- 88% citizen approval of the job the county board is doing
- 95% rate their quality of life in Dakota County highly
- Dakota County is now debt-free
- PROMOTING COUNTY PARKS .. Celebrating the 50th year of the Dakota County Park System. We are adding trailheads with parking for better access to the trail system, planning a comprehensive greenway system to connect neighborhoods, and developing natural management systems for each county park.
- Launched multiple successful initiatives … Vitals Aware Services, Career Success Program, Birth to 8 Collaborative, Discover Together: South St. Paul
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) 1 in 48 children in the metro area has been identified with ASD. Initiated a family grant program to help pay for adaptive recreation, camps, and communication devices that support greater community inclusion
- More on ASD. Offered sensory-friendly programs on Saturdays at the Library for kids ages 3-8 and on Sundays in the Parks for kids ages 5-10. Learn more at www.dakotacounty.us, search sensory-friendly
- Welcoming the new Minnesota Vikings training facility
- Connecting with residents through our website, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media
- ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY .. Secured $6.2 million in funding for the SMART center to address mental health crisis skills and cybercrime. We are partnering with our cities and others to practice the best response methods to make sure our response is coordinated and effective. The County is also working to protect public safety in the event of emergencies and hazardous incidents, with plans in place to respond to many hazards, from floods to fires and tornados to terrorism
- IMPROVING COUNTY ROADS AND TRANSIT .. Secured new funding for road and transit projects that doubles the resources for county projects. In 2019, we will update the county transportation plan to guide road and transit projects through 2040
- Helped 4,000 of our veterans access the $194 million in federal, state and local benefits they were entitled to receive due to their service
- Formed an Electronics Crime Task Force
- Launched Sleep On It campaign to save babies’ lives by encouraging safe sleep environments
- Broke the cycle of repeat offenders with the Re-Entry Assistance Program
- Launched Red Line Bus Rapid Transit service and recently launched a new transit service to the Dakota Technical College
- Maintained Aaa bond rating
- Looking for a job. Find a list of careers with traits that align with your personality with Traitify. Explore the possibilities with this new service by going to www.dakotacounty.us and searching Traitify
Dakota County provides 226 programs and services to county residents, including:
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- Record Keeping
- Property records
- Births, deaths, and marriages
- Tax collections
- Emergency Services
- 911
- Disaster Response
- Public Safety
- Sheriff
- Jails and corrections
- Public Health
- Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles
- Disease prevention and Immunizations
- Elections
- Transportation
- Road and bridge maintenance
- Ice and Snow Removal
- Record Keeping
- Human Services
- Child Support collection
- Job search and retraining
- Emergency assistance
- Food support, child care
- Veteran Services
- Senior housing facilities through the Dakota County CDA
- 9 county libraries
- 5,600 acre regional park system