The Crookston City Council’s Ways and Means Committee met on Monday in the council chambers at City Hall.
The committee received funding presentations from local non-profit organizations, which were requested ahead of further discussions on the preliminary 2027 budget. In total, seven groups submitted applications to the city seeking funding assistance in 2027. The first presentation was from Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc., seeking $19,000 for operating and capital expenses. Tri-Valley spoke about the important role that they play in Crookston, providing public transportation for over 92 hours per week and around 89,000 miles in 2026 so far. The next group was the Oakdale Cemetery Association, and they requested $10,000 to help with their recent lawnmower purchase and needed repairs to their backhoe. The Crookston Aquatic Boosters/Ox Cart Days requested $6,000, which they plan to use for their fireworks contract and general fund. The Benedictine Living Community/Villa St. Vincent requested $10,000 to help with the purchase and implementation of a new nurse call integration system. This new system would consolidate their current call services into a single system, allowing staff to carry less equipment and better serve their residents. The Polk County Scruffy Tails Humane Society submitted a request for $20,000 to help with essential costs and operating expenses, as they have already brought in 144 animals in 2026, up from 129 in 2025. Care and Share, Inc. submitted a $20,000 request for general operating expenses. They have also seen the need for their services grow in recent years, as they continue to assist homeless individuals in finding a new permanent home. The final group to present was the Crookston Area Seniors Association (Golden Link), which requested $97,000 to cover operating expenses. They offer meals, programs, and activities to seniors through the Golden Link Senior Center and rely on donations to cover expenses without raising membership prices. Committee member Morgan Hibma asked whether they had applied for federal or state grants to help cover their costs, and they said they had not yet received a grant but were working on grant writing.
Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler appreciated the turnout from the non-profit groups and understands that the city cannot fund every proposal brought forward, but it is up to the council to decide how much money they can allocate and who will receive it. “It’s wonderful to see all the interest in the nonprofit grants. It’s nice to see the organizations come out and present,” said Selzler. “They’re all very passionate about their organizations, and each one of them fills a special niche or need in the city of Crookston. It’s a very difficult decision. I would hate to be a council person having to make those decisions because they’re all very important, and like I said, they all serve a very significant need and a purpose in the city of Crookston, but unfortunately, we can only fund so many. So, yeah, in the coming month here, closer to probably the end of September, we’ll have another discussion about it, and the council will make a decision on who or what they’ll fund.”
The committee agreed to table any further discussion on the funding proposals until the budget picture is clearer. Selzler reminded them that with only two meetings left before the September 30 deadline, there may be a need to add a special session to continue reviewing the budget, as the parks and rec and public works budgets are still pending.
The committee also heard from Crookston Public Library Director Chris Boike and Lake Aggasiz Regional Library Finance and HR Director Jamie Sprynczynatyk regarding the library’s 2027 budget. Selzler told the committee that the library budget has not changed, but Boike wanted the opportunity to bring in Sprynczynatyk to explain to the committee how LARL calculates the funding it needs from Crookston based on its new formula, which combines cost- and use-based analyses to level out costs among the 12 signatories in LARL. He said, “In the end, we’re just asking for this $20,000 increase, and you can see some of the signatories are significantly low, some are significantly high. But over the next four years, the goal is to get everybody so that they’re paying for what the cost of what their locations are.”
The next Ways and Means Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 8, immediately following the City Council meeting in the council chambers at City Hall due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday, September 7.
