The Crookston City Council held a special budget workshop meeting to discuss the Administration, Finance, and Mayor/City Council budgets.
HEALTH INSURANCE NEWS
Crookston Police Chief and interim City Administrator Darin Selzler brought good news to the meeting and informed the City Council that the city’s health insurance premiums will have a zero percent increase in 2026, saving the city money in the 2026 budget. Selzler also informed the council that the Minnesota Service Co-op will give them a $35,000 rebate. “We met with the Minnesota Service Cooperative. And yeah, we got really good news that the city’s insurance is not receiving an increase this year. We’ll stay at 0%,” said Selzler. “Because our usage was so low, the city was receiving a $35,000 refund. So yeah, that was great news.”
The savings couldn’t come at a better time for the City. “I believe citywide, through all the departments, about a $75,000 savings for us at this point,” said Selzler. “And then with the $35,000 rebate, that’ll definitely be a nice bonus back to the city to try to help with those costs for sure.”
GRANT AND DONATIONS DISCUSSION
The council had a lengthy discussion on the non-profit grants they will offer in 2026. In 2025, the city awarded six organizations grants, but in 2026, they discussed only giving two organizations funding. The Golden Link Senior Center received $75,000 in 2025, and the City is looking at doing the same amount in 2026. “I’m all about supporting the seniors“, said Crookston Mayor Dale Stainbrook. “It’d be nice if we could get together with them before we have to do some crunching and see exactly where our city dollars go to help out the Golden Link, whether it’s the insurance piece or if it’s maintenance. We are just looking for some answers, but I think Tri-Valley and Golden Link are very important to continue to fund.“
Tri-Valley Transportation received $16,000 in 2025, and they will likely get the same amount in 2026. “Transportation is a big part of Crookston,” said Mayor Stainbrook. “I know people use it to get to appointments, get to work, and they’re asking roughly, I think, a thousand over last year, and I don’t think that’s really an issue.”
In 2025, they also funded the Ox Cart Days Festival by giving it $6,000 towards fireworks. Get Kids Outdoors – Adam Parnow Memorial Inc. $5,000, the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership $15,000, and Scruffy Tails Humane Society $8,000.
There will be three more budget discussions, with the Park and Rec budget discussion on Wednesday, September 10, at 5:30 p.m. There will be another budget workshop after the regular city council meeting on Monday, September 15 with the discussion of Community Development, Police, and Fire budgets. The final scheduled budget discussion will be on Wednesday, September 17 at 5:30 p.m. discussing the Public Works budget.
