By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
On Tuesday night the Northfield City Council approved a preliminary budget for 2025, along with the preliminary tax levy at an increase of 17.2%.
City Administrator Ben Martig said at that level, a home valued at $350,000, which is the median price in Northfield, will see an increase of around $16 each month, or $200 a year in the city portion of property tax.
He said there are many reasons for the increase, beginning with the city’s debt obligations, and including a 2.3% increase to the parks maintenance budget, skyrocketing infrastructure costs, and variable labor costs for next year. There are city services and amenities that must be funded, he said, including the Northfield Police Department, and the Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service which have seen budget increases over the last few years. And the city is also looking to add two more positions to the staff next year, a financial analyst, and a chief mechanic in the public works department.
Mayor Pownell said there is much more the city does to create a quality of life that Northfielders have come to expect.
“We are also supporting some really key organizations that help create this more robust, vibrant quality of life that we all know and love, like the History Center, like Age Friendly Northfield, like HCI. They really do amazing work for us as a city to create that more holistic vibrancy.” – Mayor Rhonda Pownell on the KYMN Morning Show
While finding areas to cut will be difficult, Mayor Pownell said there is “not a lot of fat in the budget,” most members of the Council remarked that while they would approve a 17.2% levy as a preliminary increase, they would not vote for it as a final amount.
Martig pointed out that budgeting is a process, and now that they have a point from which to work, the city staff can set about the task of shrinking the levy increase. And while it is his belief that they will not be able to work miracles, he does think that the staff can be resourceful and creative enough to bring things down.
“Between now and the next couple of months, say I’m optimistic that we’ll get some adjustments to bring the levy down. Now, can we bring it down substantially to the point that you’re in more of a 3% to 4% increase? No, I don’t think that’s realistic for next year. But certainly, we’ll be looking to see what we can do to tighten up and re-prioritize some things to bring back to the Council, so they can give us some direction. That is very realistic.” – City Administrator Ben Martig on the KYMN Morning Show
The Council is scheduled to approve the 2025 budget and tax levy at their final meeting of 2024 on December 3rd.
