The Crookston Ways and Means Committee met Monday night following the city council meeting and discussed grant distributions to local non-profit organizations and the adjusted 2024 proposed budget.
GRANT REVIEWS
The meeting began with the Ways and Means Committee reviewing the request from the Golden Link Senior Center for a grant from the city in the amount of $110,000. In previous presentations from the Golden Link, it was explained that the city funding would go toward capital improvements toward the building, salaries, and travel expenses.
After review, the Ways and Means Committee agreed not to grant the total amount of $110,000; however, they decided to recommend a grant to Golden Link in the amount of $97,000. The committee also discussed that heading into 2025, they will set a cap on the amount of money they will award to non-profit organizations. “This will be for everyone that will apply. They will know in advance the amount of money that the city anticipates,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds. “They will know the exact amount of money (if any) the city will plan to award for grants.”
The local non-profit organizations that will receive grant funding from the city include-
The Golden Link Senior Center ($97,000),
Scruffy Tails Humane Society ($20,000)
Ox Cart Days Committee ($6,000)
Tri-Valley Opportunity Council ($15,000)
Downtown Crookston Development Partnership – $10,000
The five grants total $148,000, which also increases the tax levy by approximately five percent. “What has happened since the preliminary levy came out and was set at 65.09%, since that time, city administration, department heads, and council have all worked together to bring that down,” said Reynolds. “Because that number was set as if every department was going to get everything they wanted, and all department heads and administration knew that wasn’t going to happen.”
2024 PROPOSED BUDGET NOW SET AT 24 PERCENT INCREASE
Since then, city administration department heads and council have been removing items not listed as (needs) that were initially budgeted for. The levy has now been reduced from 65.09% to 24.179%. However, the levy increase does not equate to individual property tax for homeowners.
Recently, homeowners received their preliminary tax increase on their homes in the mail, which showed an approximate 8% increase. After recent cuts to the grant distributions from the city and other cuts within departments, the increase in property tax now sits at 6.428%. “That’s the percentage that your tax will go up as a result of city action,” said Reynolds. “Also, understand that on your tax statement (located in the upper right-hand corner) is the market value of your home. Most people in Crookston have experienced an increase between 2023-24.”
Homeowners may have also noticed a reduction in homestead exclusion on their tax statements. This ultimately affects the amount the value of the homes that are being taxed.
ADDITION OF A MARKETING/EVENT COORDINATOR
The committee also reviewed the addition of bringing in a marketing/event coordinator to the city of Crookston. This position has budgeted $60,000 for salary and approximately $23,000 in benefits, and the committee believes that whoever fills this position can eventually help the city gain revenue. “From my understanding, this may not have been a position that we’ve had in the past,” said Council member Morgan Hibma. “But I believe a reason to bringing a marketing and event coordinator to Crookston would be to help bring revenue into the city through different events and to help get out the word about what is going on in the community, and also coming up with different events about what we can do for both our community members and outside our community.”
The city has also allocated $70,000 for whoever is hired in this role to fund the marketing events and advertisements. The city can use funding out of its unrestricted fund balance for the position.
