The Crookston City Council met on Monday night at 5:30 p.m. inside the City Hall Council Chambers in the lower level of City Hall for a Special Meeting.
REGULAR AGENDA
Discussion on Requested Funds from Organizations
The council began the meeting by discussing the requests of seven organizations for City funds outside of their budget. However, Interim City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds noted that this would raise the tax levy if approved, with each percent the budget is raised being equal to increasing it by $25,233.84.
Golden Link Senior Center
The first was to the Golden Link for $91,980 for their general expenses and utilities, garbage collection, and snow removal services they hired. Reynolds reported that this would increase the city’s tax levy by about 3.5% ($88,318.44). After some discussion, the city chose to grant the request to show its support for the facility and the elder members of the community. The council approved the request unanimously.
Tri-Valley Transportation
The next was for Tri-Valley Transportation for $14,500 for transportation coverage and their Tri-Valley bus and to procure additional buses. The council agreed to grant this request due to the services the organization covered for the city every day.
Downtown Crookston Development Partnership (DCDP)
The following request was from the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership for $40,000 for various activities such as a Food Truck Festival, purchase benches and waste receptacles, and signage. The council chose to approve one of the items in their request while choosing to table some of their other items for the future. “The DCDP had requested $40,000, and the council engaged in a pretty vigorous discussion about that,” Corky Reynolds explained. “They certainly recognized their Tuesday Tunes downtown, and they wanted to fund that, and they specifically said, “We’ll give you $5,000 for that particular project.” The other items in the request were discussed and, at this point, were not approved, but we will be looking at those into the future.”
Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
The next request was for the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), which requested $10,000 for holding their branch in Valley Tech Park to provide services for small businesses in the area. The council chose to deny the request for the funds but instead pass it along to the Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) as an item for their next meeting to fund as they share the building with them.
Scruffy Tails Humane Society
The Scruffy Tails Humane Society then requested $10,001 to renovate and replace their kennels and have different grating for them, which would cost them $8,075 and use around another $825 for making a cat area. Reynolds reported that he had met with the Society’s manager, and they had a monthly contract with Marshall County but didn’t have reserved kennels with them like they did with Polk County. The council chose to table the request as they wanted to have more information about their budget before approving it. “The council indicated that they wanted more information exactly about their budget, the income they had, the fees they might be charging,” Reynolds explained. “So, I have been charged with contacting Scruffy Tails to determine what their budget is, how they fund it and then bring this back to the council as I am able to gather that information.”
Wellness in the Woods
The Wellness in the Woods Committee requested $5,000 for marketing and marketing assistance for letting people contact consolers and other mental health services and wanted to provide mental health help in the future. However, the council felt they were not inclined and did not approve a marketing expense for the committee.
Ox Cart Days Committee
Finally, the Ox Cart Days Committee requested $6,000 for undesignated purposes they need for marketing and other purposes to help make Ox Cart Days possible. The council was not pleased that it was for undesignated funds as usually, the committee requests the same amount, but for the fireworks display at the end of Ox Cart Days. The council then motioned to approve the request but moved to ensure that the funds would be used for the fireworks display or find out what the funds would be used for.
Preliminary Tax Levy Discussion
The council then began a discussion about the preliminary tax levy. Reynolds reported that he had met with the Department heads and requested for them to differentiate between their department’s wants and needs, and they had found a few items for them all to drop as wants and were able to only raise the city’s levy by 18.835%. And after a rough calculation of the levy with the new requests they granted at the meeting, Reynolds said it would be a 4.7% increase for a final levy increase of 23.5%. Reynolds noted that this would be the starting point for where they would begin searching for what expenditures could be covered by the city’s reserves to reduce it to a different level, but no official motion was made for establishing the levy at 23.5%. Reynolds noted this wouldn’t mean there would be a tax increase by 18.835% but would increase the city’s taxes by about 4.27% (if a homeowner owned a $250,000 house, they would only see an increase by $76). “There’s an important distinction here. Levy percentage does not mean the amount upon which your taxes will go up,” Reynolds explained. “That’s a crucial distinction, and I think at this point in time, we will be able to reduce the levy percentage, which will reduce the taxes that a person will pay on his or her home.” The council then made a consensus to officially make a motion to establish the preliminary levy amount at their next Council meeting on September 26 to have it ready before their deadline of September 30 and give Reynolds, and the department heads time to make decisions on things they can do to lower the levy.
The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, September 26, at 7:00 p.m. inside the City Hall Council Chambers.
