City Council Meeting Date: September 23, 2025
To: Mayor & City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Subject:
TITLE
Approve the proposed 2026 Northfield Area Fire & Rescue Service Budget and Capital Equipment Plan and Related City of Northfield of Fire Department 2026s Contribution.
BODY
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council is asked to approve a motion to approve the 2026 budget request from the Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service (NAFRS) with the proposed budget expenditures of $1,568,331 of which Northfield's financial contribution is $1,154,761.92 conditional upon the removal of the "Capital Reserve" line items for 2026-2029 as shown in the current requested Capital Equipment Plan.
Summary Report:
The City Council will approve the budget request from NAFRS related to the 2026 Budget and Capital Equipment Plan. The final contribution percentages for Northfield, Dundas, and the Rural Fire District have now been determined and are noted below and in the attached letter from Chief Tom Nelson (attachment 1).
Northfield's updated percentage is 73.63% in 2026, up from 72.99% in 2025. These percentages are set every other year using a (1) number of calls, (2) population, and (3) estimated market value. This percentage is a minor change from the 73.40% estimated at the July work session. In addition, the total Capital Equipment Budget for NAFRS has been adjusted from $500,000 to $250,000.
A more detailed NAFRS budget trend document (attachment 2), 2026 budget breakdown (attachment 3), and the NAFRS 2026-2035 Capital Equipment Plan (attachment 4). Please note the 2026-2035 Capital Equipment Plan has not been updated with the final numbers. In particular, NAFRS is committed to removing the capital reserve component of the CEP and for the final CEP for this year continuing to leave the partners to determine their financial planning. NAFRS will review at the next Board Meeting to finalize the updated ...
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