The Crookston City Council Ways and Means Committee continued its 2027 preliminary budget discussions at its Tuesday meeting.
Before budget discussions began, Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler wanted to get the committee’s consensus on the final draft of the city’s comprehensive plan. The plan was reviewed and a recommendation was given by the Planning Commission at their August meeting. Selzler wanted to see if the council would like Joel Quanbeck to bring the plan back to the Ways and Means Committee for a presentation. Quanbeck previously presented the comprehensive plan to the Ways and Means Committee on May 18. Council members agreed to review the plan again and gather any additional public feedback before taking further action. Selzler thanked the committee for their input and will reach out to Quanbeck to schedule a presentation of the comprehensive plan for a future Ways and Means Committee meeting.
Public Works Director Chuck Getsman and Finance Director Jon Roscoe presented the proposed 2027 public works budget, which includes $3,741,500 in revenues and $5,071,787 in expenses, which are both increases based off of the 2026 budget. Getsman noted that the revenue increases are mostly from the water and wastewater departments, but expenses increased across most public works departments in 2027. Some of that has to do with the infrastructure upgrades needed and ongoing in the city. Overall, Getsman appreciated the feedback he received from the council. “I think everything went pretty well with the discussion. I know later on we’re going to be diving in a little bit deeper, probably going doing the traditional line by line items, and I’m looking forward to presenting the capital improvement items as well.”
PUBLIC WORKS REVENUES
FY2026: $3,018,300
FY2027: $3,741,500
PUBLIC WORKS EXPENSES
FY2026: $4,284,675
FY2027: $5,071,707
Parks and Recreation Director Scott Butt and Roscoe were the final department budget presentations during the current budget review process, which began in June. Butt told the council that the proposed budget, which includes $2,381,871 in revenues and $2,363,671 in expenses, focuses on reducing costs in the department while maintaining efficiency and accessibility for the programs and services it offers.
One expense that decreased significantly was payroll, which fell by $80,000 from 2026 to 2027. Butt explained to the council that some of those costs came from creating equitable pay across all activities for coaches. Another decrease came from hockey tournament expenses, as the current facilities at the Crookston Sports Center require less maintenance than in previous years. An expense that was maintained was gas and oil, as less mowing occurred this year due to drier weather.
One area of concern for council members was the pool’s maintenance, and Butt reported that of the $50,000 budgeted for 2026, only $3,700 has been used so far. Based on those numbers, Dylane Klatt suggested creating a reserve fund for any budgeted funds that go unused in a given year, to help with unexpected or larger expenses in future years. Roscoe and Selzler agreed that a fund could be created, but more review would be needed before any action could be taken. “Right now, we’re in a good place. We’re still waiting on the pool study to come back, and I think there was some great talk today about if we have money that was left over from this year to put it into a fund for funding the pool for down the road. So we’ll wait and see what happens.”
Regarding revenues, Butt was excited to share that sugarbeet harvesters have the Central Park Campground near capacity, as the camping season nears its end. He also noted that service charges increased slightly, while other revenues decreased, but overall revenue still increased in 2026. Butt was pleased with the discussion and suggestions made by the council. “I thought it was very well received. I mean, the number one thing is we looked to reduce where we could, and stay the same in a lot of areas. But I thought the council was very receptive to what we were proposing, and they had some great questions about different aspects of it. The biggest thing is making sure that we can provide the best bang for a limited dollar that we can.”
PARKS AND RECREATION REVENUES
FY2026: $2,240,418
FY2027: $2,381,671
PARKS AND RECREATION EXPENSES
FY2026: $2,449,395
FY2027: $2,363,671
Overall, Selzler was pleased with the budget review process this year compared to 2025 and thanked all the department heads for coming in to help present their projected budgets for 2027 and taking the time to answer questions from the Ways and Means Committee. “It was great. I don’t remember the last time we started budget discussions in June. Last year, just with turnover at the city, we started in September for the entire budget, so I think we had special meetings two or three times a week. It was really refreshing this year to be able to get that taken care of, mostly at just regular scheduled meetings.”
Based on the remaining conversations on capital improvement project funds, non-profit grant requests, and setting the preliminary levy before the September 30 deadline, Selzler acknowledged that at least one special meeting would need to be scheduled to ensure all topics are covered. The council agreed to schedule a special meeting on Monday, September 28, at 5:30 p.m., but several council members, including Morgan Hibma and Joseph Shostell, requested an additional special meeting to separate the preliminary levy discussions and give them enough time to review the options before making a decision. Selzler agreed with their suggestion. “We’re really close across the finish line here. We want to discuss overall city capital improvement projects, nonprofit grants, and then have that discussion about preliminary levy, which is a lot of thought process that the council takes into that. They’re very serious about how they make their decisions, and by having those extra couple meetings, it gives them a little more opportunity to think about that and discuss that. It’s very important to make sure we get this right, and having those extra couple meetings, I think, are certainly worth it to make sure all topics are discussed thoroughly and decisions are made right.”
An additional special City Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall.
