The Crookston City Council had another budget workshop on Wednesday evening in the City Hall Council Chambers. The council heard from non-profit groups that applied for the non-profit grant program that the City of Crookston offers.
“We received eight applications and had six of those organizations show up tonight to present their requests. It was just a good night to hear from the respective organizations submitting for the grants and also from the council,” said Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler. “It’s two-sided, one to maybe prioritize where the council feels that some of these organizations might rank them from who should get the funds versus maybe not. Just to get an idea of what that number looks like.“
There were eight applicants, with six of them attending the meeting and pitching to the council for the requested funds. The eight non-profits and the monetary request are listed below-
Golden Link – $75,000 (towards operating costs)
Care and Share – $20,000 (to go towards the shelter and the services they provide)
Tri-Valley Transportation – $17,000 (to go towards the bus service that provided 91,933 rides in 2024)
Linus’ Legacy – $15,000 (towards pet rescues – they were not in attendance)
Alluma Foundation – $10,700 (for a walk-in shower at the adult foster care home)
Scruffy Tails – $7,000 (towards the shelter – they were not in attendance)
Ox Cart Days Festival – $6,000 (to go towards fireworks)
Downtown Crookston Development Partnership – $5,000 (to go towards downtown events)
Last year, the City of Crookston gave $120,000 in funding to the non-profits, and the council made it clear that due to budget constraints, there will likely be less given out in 2026. The council seemed to agree that the Golden Link Senior Center and Tri-Valley Transportation were at the top of the list, along with Ox Cart Days. Before any decision is made, the council wants to get the concrete budget numbers. “It was just nice to have that conversation and get the council to think about it over the weekend, as we come into Monday, what their priorities are as far as some of these nonprofits,” said Selzler. Hopefully, we can give something out. It might not be the ask that they requested, but hopefully we can give some funds to these because they’re all due causes. And I think each request is reasonable. Just unfortunate if we can or can’t fund them.“
Selzer said he hopes to have the budget numbers finalized by Thursday or, at the latest, Friday. He will then send them to the council members so they can have a better idea of where the budget is for the meeting on Monday. “That’s been full steam ahead on getting that preliminary levy number and working through. All the budget meetings we’ve been attending, meeting with the department heads, and trying to finalize some of those numbers,” said Selzler. “Moving forward, Monday the 29th, we will have preliminary levy discussions. We’ll probably revisit the capital improvement requests from department heads, and we have narrowed down or reduced some of those requests. We can revisit the nonprofit grants. And then on Tuesday, the 30th, we’ll have a special council meeting, and we will have to pass the levy amount for 2026.”
The Crookston City Council will hold another budget meeting on Monday, September 29, at 5:30 p.m. in the Crookston City Hall Council Chambers. The final meeting of the preliminary budget will be on Tuesday, September 30, at 5:30 p.m. The state of Minnesota requires the preliminary budget to be turned in by Midnight on September 30.
