The Crookston City Council held a special meeting Wednesday night in the City Hall council chambers and set the final 2024 levy.
CITY COUNCIL ADOPTS FINAL LEVY AND CITY TAX INCREASE
The final levy for the city of Crookston has been set at 18.063% increase. This levy will be certified by the county by December 28. The county will then take the city’s levy and create the final real estate taxes payable in the 2024 statement.
“Everything up to today has been preliminary; once you get your tax statement in the spring, it will show this 18.063% levy, not 65.09% increase,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds, “The council and department heads did a great job in getting this down, on their own and also in response to the citizen’s thoughts.”
The city’s tax rate was also established during the meeting. The tax rate has been adjusted based on the levy and has been set at a 4.5% increase from last year.
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA FOLLOWING LEVY’S ESTABLISHMENT
The council approved the resolution regarding the Sick and Safe Time policy, which has also recently been approved by the state legislature. Full-time employees can work up to 48 hours of Sick and Safe Time, while part-time employees can earn up to 16 hours.
The council also approved the resolution regarding Maintaining Facilities related to the Highway 2 Corridor improvements in downtown Crookston. The city will be responsible for the typical upkeep of the road. “In 2027, we will be shrinking the number of lanes from three to two on each of the one-ways,” said Reynolds, “This will be on Broadway and Main Street. The city will have the same responsibilities we’ve always had regarding those two streets.”
The Highway 2 Corridor improvements will be funded through the Transportation Alternative Program (TAP), which is a grant program from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, which the council has since also approved.
The final item on the agenda was a resolution regarding the City of Crookston’s establishment of committed fund balances. “What happens at the end of every year (fiscally) is there are accounting entries,” said Reynolds. “There are accounting funds that have to be transferred from one account to another, having the December 28 deadline.”
The city’s financial department has not yet been able to calculate which funds need to exhibit transfers, nor have they been able to determine the amount. The council ultimately approved the authorization to do the transfers, and they will receive a presentation on which funds have been transferred with the amount to each fund.
The consent agenda included the approval of minutes from the Truth in Taxation hearing and the city council meeting minutes from December 11. It also had the approval of bills and disbursements for $ 126,252.68.
To watch the full meeting, click here.
