The city’s budgeting season unofficially began on Tuesday night when the Northfield City Council heard a presentation from the Abdo Financial Group regarding the city’s final, comprehensive financial report for 2023.
Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig said, overall, the city is in good financial shape. Expenditures in 2023 were within 2% of what had been budgeted, the city met all of the benchmarking standards that are used to measure a good year, and the cash reserves are at what he called, “the high end” of the policy’s range.
There were some unique circumstances that helped the city avoid major crises. For example, he said, when the city was presented with the reality of the compensation market for law enforcement officers, and the need to make changes to the Northfield Police Department pay scale in order to retain good cops who do an excellent job for the city, they were able to use federal Covid relief funds that had been earmarked for Public Safety. It was a onetime payout from the federal government, but it helped the city keep things from devolving into a bad situation.
The audit also put some negative rhetoric to rest. Much of the narrative for those who have opposed the construction of a new municipal liquor store, and the downtown redevelopment project in general, is that the liquor store does not make money and it never will. Quite the opposite is true, actually. The liquor store has been profitable for many years, and the report showed a 28% profit over expenses in 2023. And they do that, he said, in a subpar space.
“In a small store we’re basically squeezing all of the profit and efficiency that we can out of that operation. It’s certainly undersized but I think it goes to show, again, it is continuing to contribute It’s making a profit, it’s contributing dollars back to the general fund to help reduce some of the tax burden. It actually funds some of our education around substance abuse prevention for youth. So we use those dollars to go back for direct benefit.”
Of course, not everything is perfect with Northfield’s finances. Martig acknowledged the city’s tax rate is, on average, 14 percentage points higher than those of comparable cities. He said the amount of tax collected, and taxes per capita is more in line with other cities, and the city does know the reason for the imbalance.
“Our tax rate is high compared to the norm. We’re at about a 57% tax rate compared to a 43% tax rate for other comparable communities. But our taxes per capita are pretty much on line. The one area where, when you ask, “Why is that tax rate high even though our total city taxes are on the lower-to-mid-range compared to other comparable cities?” It’s because our tax base in the commercial and industrial area is lighter than our peer communities.”
The Northfield City Council will now move into budgeting season with some very serious work to do, including the long delayed decision on the Northfield Ice Arena. Mayor Rhonda Pownell has indicated that a decision could come as soon as next week when the Council meets for their regular meeting on Tuesday.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig can be heard here
Becker receiving ‘On the Job Training’
St. Olaf College Professor of Economics Anthony Becker has been named the next Minnesota State Economist.
The position is that of a non-partisan advisor to the state government, providing research and analysis to inform the state budget development and track the state’s financial performance. They are responsible for the February and November economic forecasts, which serve as a guide for the amount of money available to the legislature during budgeting years. The forecasts are very important to the state legislature, demanding a high level of non-partisan integrity.
The current State Economist, Laura Kalambokidis, a professor of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, has held the position for 11 years. Professor Becker praised Kalambokidis for her work, saying she has set standards of transparency and objectivity that he intends to maintain.
Professor Becker has been a faculty member at St. Olaf College since 1987. In his 37 years there, he chaired the Economics Department from 2012 to 2020, and has chaired several faculty committees. He has also worked as a consultant in economic analysis and as an expert witness in economic damages.
He said in this new role, the State is contracting with St. Olaf for his services. So while he will remain a member of the St. Olaf faculty, he will not be working in the classroom.
Becker holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in economics, both from Duke University, and a bachelor’s degree with honors in economics from the University of Maryland at College Park. A published author, he is a member of the American Economic Association, the American Society of Hispanic Economists, the National Association of Forensic Economists, and Western Economic Association International.
Professor Becker said he has a passion for economic forecasting, which is essentially what he has been studying and teaching at St. Olaf for 37 years, and he is excited to put that passion to work in such an impactful role.
“It’s really a great honor and a privilege to be trusted with doing this, in a sense, in the real world, where policymakers, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the legislature are going to be making decisions based on the forecast that we’re going to be preparing.”
Dr. Becker has already begun his work in St. Paul, even as Dr. Kalambokidis prepares to retire at the end of July. He said he is thankful for her presence and letting him have what he called a month of “on the job training.” He will assume the title of State Economist on July 1st.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Minnesota State Economist Dr. Anthony Becker can be heard here
Mrs. Moxie bringing new drag performers to Northfield
After the great success of the Moxie-Gras drag brunch last February, the Grand Event Center is preparing to bring Mrs. Moxie and her band of drag performers back to its stage for another drag brunch on June 22nd.
Mrs. Moxie, who bills herself as Northfield’s Very Own Drag Queen, said the event in February was a hugely successful event and an educational experience as well. One of the things they learned after February is the importance of crowd control and what can happen in a kitchen when 300 people order food at the same time. To that end, tickets are being made available in seating groups. One group will be seated at 10:30. The next will be seated at 10:45, and so on in 15-minute increments, until the show starts at 11:30.
Joining Mrs. Moxie on the stage this time will be her stalwart companion, Lexi D., Sher DeWealth, and Miz Diagnosis. The latter two are new to the Northfield stage, and Moxie said she wants to bring more and more new performers to Northfield.
“As we continue to go forward with it, not only for the June 22nd show, but for the future, I want to start rotating more of these artists from throughout the state; bringing them from Minneapolis or other locations so that people can get exposed to not just Drag Queens, but Drag Kings and nonbinary performers. Really experience what drag art is all about, because education is a big part of it too.”
A Very Moxie Brunch is set for June 22nd at the Grand Event Center. Tickets for entry are $20 and do not include food or beverage. To order tickets, visit Eventbrite.com, and search for A Very Moxie Brunch.
Rich Larson’s full conversation with Mrs. Moxie can be heard here
KYMN Daily News 6/13/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
