The Northfield City Council is currently working through the budgeting process for 2024. Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell and City Finance Director Brenda Angelstad said the process is far more complex than what the public sees at a series of Council meetings and work sessions in the late summer and early fall.
Angelstad said the first half of every year is centered around working on the audit of the previous year. The city has had a clean audit for several years in a row, meaning there are no irregularities or surprises in the city’s finances, and that becomes helpful when the city’s credit rating is reviewed in September. The rating the city receives determines the interest rate on the bonds it issues, which in turn will figure prominently into the budget for the following year.
The budgeting process itself starts in May. Angelstad said her staff depends on the work of each department head to set the budget for their department, and those numbers are then pulled together and presented to the City Council in an annual budgeting work session. The work session was held earlier this month, and the council was presented with three options for the preliminary tax levy. City staff recommended increases of 7.8%, 10.4% or 12.8%. Angelstad said it is important to remember that the preliminary levy is the highest the levy could be increased, but after it is set in September, it could still be reduced.
“Throughout the Fall we continue to get better numbers. If we know what our medical premium increases are – and when we know that – we can update those numbers. If there’s a contract that was agreed to, but maybe had been estimated, we can update those things before we do the final levy.”
Northfield taxpayers have seen a double digit increase to the tax levy three of the last four years, with the increase in 2023 coming in at about 18%. Mayor Pownell said the higher levy amounts are largely due to necessary updates to the city’s infrastructure. Ignoring needed maintenance or replacement of a wastewater treatment plant, or a street project has an impact on Northfield’s businesses and its business owners, and she feels the council would be derelict in its duty to not address what is needed.
“They have cost impacts to our community members and to our businesses. Having the courage to fund those infrastructure updates is really important. I would say this is a sensitive issue that garners the most attention when it comes to what our levies are and what we’re spending money on. But, if we don’t do this, there is definitely a major cost impact.”
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the preliminary tax levy on September 19th. The final budget vote is scheduled for December 5th.
Draper sees library as a center for “tech literacy”
During that city-wide budgeting meeting earlier this month, while speaking to the City Council and the various city department heads, Northfield Director of Library Services Natalie Draper laid out a vision of the library as a center for Northfielders to learn about technology as it evolves faster than some can keep up. She said the library will offer the ability to check out more high-tech devices, and librarians will be able to help library patrons learn how to use those devices.
To that end, the Northfield Public Library announced this week that it will have five Verizon Wi-Fi hotspots and laptop computers available for checkout for one week.
The library is participating in Community Connect: Fostering Digital Access, an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) and Capital One that is managed by the ALA’s Public Programs Office in collaboration with the Public Library Association, that helps rural libraries offer internet access and financial education for their patrons.
Selected through a competitive application process, the Northfield Public Library joins a group of 30 libraries across the country participating in the initiative.
“The library is proud to be selected to bring Community Connect to our community. We encourage community members to visit the library to check-out a Wi-Fi hotspot to bring home,” Draper said in the statement. “We are also excited to offer resources on digital and financial literacy to help patrons establish at home internet connections with free tools from the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program.”
The statement said that the library will also receive a separate $2,000 cash grant to support programs about financial literacy and the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program.
Draper said the Wi-Fi hotspots can be a very useful tool for a variety of reasons.
“A lot of folks have periods where they need internet for a short time, but they don’t have it. Maybe they’ve just moved, or their services have been cut off, or maybe they’re on vacation. They can check out a hotspot, and now they have internet for the borrowing period.”
The hotspots will be available from the library beginning on Tuesday.
NPD putting emphasis on moving aside for emergency vehicles today
Coming on the heels of a report regarding some confusion among Northfield drivers about what to do when an emergency vehicle is approaching, the Northfield Police Department said it will observe Ted Foss Move Over Enforcement and Education Day today, August 31st, with emphasized enforcement.
Minnesota’s Ted Foss Move Over Law was named in honor of State Patrol Trooper Ted Foss. Foss was killed in 2000 by a passing vehicle during a traffic stop on the shoulder of I-90 in Winona County.
The law states drivers must move over one full lane from stopped emergency vehicles with flashing lights activated or reduce their speed if they are unable to safely move over. As of July 1st, the law also requires motorists to move over for vehicles that are stalled or disabled on the side of the road.
A statement issued by the NPD said moving over a lane for flashing lights is critical to the safety of law enforcement, emergency workers, first responders and road crews.
The statement said failing to take these actions endangers personnel who provide critical and life-saving services. Fines can exceed $100.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
