City Council Meeting Date: October 21, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
From: City Administrator, Ben Martig
Finance Director, Brenda Angelstad
Title
2026-2027 Budget Update.
Body
Action Requested:
Discussion only.
Seeking input from individual councilors and consensus on final proposed budget & tax levy (with exception of final 2026-2030 Capital Equipment Plan and Capital Improvement Plan).
Summary Report:
Attached is the updated proposed operating budget and property tax levy information for 2026.
Staff has made adjustments to the budget that would retain Sunday library hours. The following items were used to cover the difference that reduced the budget that includes a final proposed tax levy of 9.9%. Those adjustments included: Added reductions utilizing MN paid leave shared employee/employer cost savings, library teen furniture and materials deferral, and supply budget reductions across departments.
The attached summary budget information is the final proposed tax levy and budget. Staff is seeking confirmation through discussion to confirm this final budget and tax levy. This would be the appropriate time to raise any remaining questions or feedback as we look to finalize this information to the public and in preparation of tax statements being received at the end of November and final adoption after a public hearing in December. A final budget and tax levy must be adopted by majority vote no later than the end of December.
The following components of the budget are completed and available in summary form in the budget slides: utility rates, Northfield Area Fire & Rescue Services (NAFRS) contribution, partnership funding, gas and electric rate adjustments, liquor store fund, communications fund, NCRC fund,
The final component of the budget to complete is the final 5-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and Capital Equipment Plan (CEP). The 2026 tax levy would not require any additional adjustment for these plans and the items in 2...
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