Last week, when the Northfield City Council began to look at the budget of 2024, they were presented with three different property tax levy increase options at 7.8%, 10.4% or 12.8%.
How high the Council will decide to go is based on an increase to the General Fund budget, and an increase to the Parks, Vehicles and Facilities budget.
The increase to the general fund begins with debt service. Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig said the city’s debt will increase by 23% due largely to large construction projects, and that will translate to a 3.9% increase in the levy. Infrastructure costs are rising faster than inflation, and it is making these projects more difficult. The city, he said, is trying to do a better job of financial planning for the future, however, so increases like this can be parceled out over time to decrease their impact.
“These things are all difficult and challenging, but we’re trying to get better at financially planning these bigger costs. The drivers primarily right now are projects. It’s the cost of doing street projects. It’s the cost of doing buildings and equipment that’s really creating a lot of stress for us, just like other communities across Minnesota.”
Other line items driving the levy increase are parks, vehicles & equipment, and facilities. The roof on City Hall is scheduled to be replaced next year as it has aged to the point where there are leaks that must be addressed. Vehicle costs to the city are up 50% over the last four years. During the meeting last week, City Engineer and Director of Public Works Dave Bennett said in 2019 the City of Northfield purchased a Ford F-150 pickup for $28,000. This year, the purchase price of the same vehicle was $42,000.
Parks have been a topic of conversation for several years. The City Parks Capital Improvement Plan says that about 10% of what is necessary has actually been budgeted for parks over the years. For 2024, the council is weighing increases of 36% or 48% to the parks budget. Martig said the increases are necessary just to maintain what is already in place.
“But the alternative is if we don’t fix it, then we’re going to have to have more discussions about taking equipment out when it’s done with its useful life and just remove some of our playgrounds. Or another potential example could be some of our maintenance projects like the pickleball courts. Those things might not be able to get done if we if we don’t have the dollars to maintain some of the infrastructure.”
The Council is behind what would be a normal timetable in its budgeting work right now, so they will have another discussion on September 5th. They are required to set the preliminary tax levy, which is the maximum number at which the city could increase property taxes, by September 19th.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig can be heard here
Newly extended contract will help district transportation budget
As the Northfield Public School District has gone through a multi-phased budget reduction over the past two years, one of the areas in the budget that has been identified as needing continued attention is transportation. A recently extended contract with the Benjamin Bus Company will now help the transportation budget become more of a fixed cost to the district.
Benjamin Bus is the company that, of course, operates the school buses for the Northfield School district and transports the kids to school. The contract extension will increase the cost of the service to the Northfield School District by 4% in the 2023-2024 school year, and another 4% in 2024-2025.
One of the variables that will be reduced in the new contract is the cost of fuel. When the contract was originally signed, a clause in the contract said the bus company would pay for fuel up to $2.75 per gallon, and the district would pay for the cost of fuel over that. Shortly after that agreement was made, fuel costs spiked sharply, and the school district has been paying unplanned fuel costs now for several years. Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said the extension has a renegotiated fuel clause.
“If it gets over $3 a gallon, then they bill the district for that difference. When we originally signed this contract a few years ago, gas was far below $2.75 a gallon. I don’t need to tell people filling up at the pump what it’s been since we really saw some inflationary pressure. And so, this will really put the district in a good position.”
Another change that will help the district better anticipate costs from year to year is the new opt-in bussing model. Over the summer, families were asked to identify which students throughout the district would be taking the bus to school. The idea, Hillmann said, is to have better knowledge of where buses need to stop prior to the beginning of the school year.
“It’s helpful to Benjamin Bus when they’re doing the routing in the summer to know who exactly is going to be riding. Every year, circumstances and families change a little bit and maybe somebody’s not going to ride this year that did last year, but if we plan those stops for someone is no longer taking the bus, then that becomes a less efficient system.”
Hillmann said families were contacted several different ways asking them to identify their students who do plan to take the bus. While the deadline was August 11th, he encouraged anyone who does plan to take the bus to school but has not yet opted in to contact the school district. While the student might not be able to access transportation right away, he said, the district will make arrangements for them.
The new contract with Benjamin Bus is scheduled to run at least through the 2024-2025 school year.
City looks to inform residents about Jefferson Parkway project
And, even as the City of Northfield works through what has been a dogged street project season, plans for the projects during the summer of 2024 are already gearing up.
To that end, the city is hosting an informational meeting regarding the scheduled Jefferson Parkway West and Mill Towns Trail Improvement Project on Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in the 2nd Floor Training Room at City Hall.
According to a statement released by the city this will be an open-house style meeting. Residents and property owners will be able to view illustrations and ask questions of city staff. People may attend for as long as they would like within the scheduled meeting time.
The City of Northfield is in the process of preliminary design for the improvement project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2024. The goal of the meeting is to distribute information regarding the upcoming reconstruction and help people within the affected neighborhoods to be aware of the project and plan accordingly.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
