Property values are declining in Brainerd. And while that may be bad news if a person is trying to sell property it's good news for many of the city's taxpayers. An important point to remember in light of the Brainerd City Council's Dec. 13 decision to increase the tax rate is that amount of money paid by Brainerd taxpayers will go down because of the lower property values. The city of Brainerd will see a 1.4 percent levy dollar decrease from 2010. That means a little extra money in the pocket in the average Brainerd taxpayer. Credit goes to the city council and officials who have worked hard to keep expenditures down in this extremely challenging time.