By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
The final approval of budgets and tax levies for local governments is scheduled for the beginning of December. Each newscast this week will have a story about the City of Northfield’s tax increase to help explain the issue. Find the full series on our website under the “Guide to the Northfield City Budget.”
Today, we’re discussing the $1.4 million in budget cuts the city underwent this year as part of the budget process. Despite the proposed 9.9% increase in taxes for the city, that amount is not keeping up with inflation. With 7.5% of the 9.9% increase going to the Ice Arena, it left little room for inflationary factors, which have continued to rise. In the city, there were fixed costs, including wages of employees; many, like the Police Department, have an agreed-upon union contract. With costs outpacing the tax increase, budget cuts became necessary.
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Among the budget cuts are:
- A $220,000 decrease in the Parks, Facilities, and Equipment Maintenance Funds
- $130,000 in reduction in consulting costs.
- Laying off four city staff, including the Economic Development Coordinator, Northfield Public Broadcasting Station Manager, Public Works Mechanic, and a Community Service Office (to be replaced by 2-part time officers).
Other smaller cuts include:
- Elimination of 4th of July Fireworks.
- Delaying work on Emergency Preparedness Sirens
- Delaying the Library Website Redesign,
- Delaying the Ames Park Planning
- HR NeoGov Onboarding upgrade
- Local Option Sales Tax Education
There is also a one-time transfer out of the Liquor Store fund and the DMV Fund of $276,000, lowering the amount that needs to be cut. In a normal budget year, only $50,000 would be pulled from the Liquor Store fund.
During its discussion, the City Council had explored other options as well, including a 14% tax increase and a 3% tax increase, which would have required $2.6 million in budget cuts.
The budget cuts have stirred quite a bit of discussion at the City Council over the summer and the fall. Councilor Chad Beumer stated that this was a fair compromise between keeping a reasonable tax increase and avoiding cutting too many services:
“I won’t go as far as to say that I think everybody is going to be happy with the budget where we end up, but. I think we did a pretty fair job of keeping the levy as low as possible without sacrificing, you know. too many of those essential services.” – Chad Beumer, Northfield City Council Member; A Guide to the Northfield Budget
In September, at a Council meeting, Councilor Jessiaca Peterson White expressed concerns with the smaller levy increase and the larger budget cuts needed, citing past examples of when maintenance was deferred:
“The result of that is something that I have spent my 12 years on the council trying to make up for, of catching up on all of that maintenance, because the people of Northfield deserve to have streets that are safe to drive on that aren’t crumbling. They deserve to know when those things will be fixed.” – Jessica Peterson-White, Northfield City Councilor at the 9/16/2025 City Council Meeting
A reminder that the preliminary levy increase of 10.2% set by the City Council is the highest the tax increase can go. However, the proposal being brought forward is for 9.9%.
As we mentioned earlier in the week, the general fund, which is what we have primarily been discussing, is only one part of the budget. Tomorrow, as we wrap up the series, we will talk about the utility funds of Northfield.
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