By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
Today is the day, after months of discussion, votes, and news reports, tonight the Northfield City Council will hold its Truth in Taxation meeting and vote to approve the final budget and tax increase for next year.
Will have the agenda preview for what else is happening at tonight’s city council meeting, but first, here’s a summary
The City Council tonight is set to approve a 9.9% Tax Levy Increase, to a home valued at $350,000 they will see a $12 a month increase. Overall, the city will collect $19,485,372 in taxes. To a Northfield Taxpayer, approximately 39% of their property taxes go to the city, 38% to the Northfield School District, and 21% to the county.
Listen to the News:
In July, City Staff presented to the council an original proposal of a 17% increase. Since then, the council has debated several different proposals, ranging from a 3% tax increase to 14%. The debate has been complicated by one major factor: the Ice Arena. Here’s Councilor Davin Sokup in July:
“And sometimes when you talk about a city budget, it’s how all of it sounds very not tangible. A huge portion of our levy increase is for one project.” – Davin Sokup, Northfield City Council, at the 7/15/2025 City Council Work Session Meeting
If all else were held equal, a 7.5% tax increase would be necessary to cover the costs of the new building. Combined with inflation and staff wages, the 9.9% tax increase was not set to cover the increase in costs, leading to over a million in budget cuts for the city.
Learn More:
Articles Explaining The Budget:
- Part 1 – Revenue Sources of the City
- Part 2 – 9.8% Average Yearly Increase in Northfield Taxes since 2016
- Part 3 – Ice Arena & Staff Wages: The Major Driver of This Year’s Tax Increase
- Part 4 – Northfield Cuts $1.4 million from Budget This Year
- Part 5 – Utility Rates Approved to Increase by $5 for the Average Customer
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
What Makes Up This Budget:
The property tax levy and city utility bill cover many different operations and facilities, including: 78 miles of roads, 93 miles of sidewalks and trails, 21 playgrounds, 94 miles of water mains, 5 wells, and more.
Of the city’s general fund, 66% of it, or $13.8 million, goes to personal services. Public safety receives the most funding in the city, 38% of the general fund or $7.9 million. The general government makes up 20% of the budget $4.1 million, and Public Works makes up 19% or $3.9 million, and the Library makes 12% of the budget or $2.4 million.
A Recap of the Debate:
Picture By Logan Wells/KYMN News
Picture by Logan Wells/KYMN News
After months of debate, the council has largely reached a consensus at this point; however, it was after much discussion and debate, some contentious, but generally respectful.
On one side has been a concern about the rise in taxes, here’s Councilor Peter Dahlen in September:
“Food costs have gone up. Homeowners’ insurance has gone up tremendously. The property insurance you need for an affordable home. We care about affordable housing. So if we add more tax to that, we’re almost undermining every concern we have about homeowners being able to live here.” – Peter Dahlen, Northfield City Councilor at the 9/16/2025 City Council Meeting
And here’s Councilor Chad Beumer in July:
“I just urge staff to look for cost savings wherever they can find it no matter how incremental that is lot of small things add up to big things throughout throughout the course of a year Anything that we can do to help keep the levy as as low as we possibly can is is great and I do appreciate all the work that they’ve done [referring to staff].” – Chad Beumer, Northfield City Councilor, at the 7/15/2025 City Council Work Session Meeting
Picture by Logan Wells/KYMN News
Meanwhile, other Council members have expressed concerns with the budget cuts needed and their long-term impact. Here’s Councilor Davin Sokup in August:
“To be honest I feel like I’m operating within the option C framework but things like not having the library open on Sundays or a decrease in the HRA and EDA budget is kind of completely antithetical to our strategic plan.” – Davin Sokup, Northfield City Councilor at the 8/12/2025 City Council Meeting
And here’s Councilor Kathleen Holmes in July:
“I want to try to get our levy as low as we can while still providing the expected service level that the Community has for us. And I think at 3%, 4%, whatever that number might be. I think even at 9.9%. The expectations of service levels are going to have to be greatly, greatly changed.” – Kathleen Holmes, Northfield City Councilor, at the 7/15/2025 City Council Work Session Meeting
Tune in tomorrow at 6:30am for 10 Minutes or Less recapping tonight’s meeting and then tune in at 8:40am to hear from Mayor Zweifel and Administrator Martig in their weekly interview.
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