by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
At its Dec. 9 meeting, the Sartell City Council gave final approval to a 2020 budget/levy that was described as “balanced, sufficient, yet frugal” by the city’s financial director, Heidi Ostlie.
The budget, she noted, will result in a slight tax decrease overall. The tax rate for 2020 shows about a 1 percent tax-rate decrease from this year’s.
The budget/levy portion of the Dec. 9 meeting was an open public meeting, but there were no comments offered by anyone. There were only about a dozen people present in the audience.
The vote for the budget/levy was 5-0. Two council members, Mayor Ryan Fitzthum and Tim Elness, both Sartell firefighters, abstained from budget-related votes regarding two provisions for the fire department – one provision for modest pay increases for fire department members, the other for increases in retirement benefits for the Fire Department Relief Association. The remainder of the council – members Brady Andel, Mike Chisum and Jeff Kolb – voted for approval of those provisions.
Ostlie also showed the council a graphic showing that since 2013, the city’s tax levy has been quite level and consistent with no wild swings up or down.
Most revenue to pay for general government services comes from property taxes. They pay for public safety, public works, parks and recreation, community development and economic development – a total for next year of $7,298,693. Other revenue comes mainly from building permits, other licenses and permits, local government aid, fines, charges for services and interest on investments.
A major portion of the budget will cover street overlay and reconstruction projects throughout the city, and there will also be money reserved for public works and equipment replacements for the police and fire departments. There will also be money marked for the operating costs for the Public Safety Facility, which will house the fire and police departments, which is slated to open in mid-year 2020.
Another item in the budget, Ostlie noted, is allowance to cover the costs of three elections in 2020 – two primary elections and the presidential general election.
The budget is the result of a thorough analysis and review that began in June of this year by city staff, department directors, the city administrator and the City Council. Many changes and revisions were done along the way to keep the budget in line and taxes as low as possible while still covering the costs of necessary city services.
