Caledonia City Council members reviewed the city’s proposed 2027 budget and tax levy in detail during their regular meeting on September 14.
Finance Officer Stephanie Mann reminded the council that the preliminary levy will be set at the September 28 city council meeting because it is due to the county by the end of the month. She also noted that once the preliminary levy is set, it may be lowered but cannot be increased.
The Truth in Taxation hearing will be held in December, when the city will set the final levy.
Mann presented the 2027 general fund budget, noting that it was drafted with a 12.0% levy increase. She said this is the point in the process when the council needs to make difficult decisions, particularly about departmental capital requests.
Capital requests include city hall exterior repairs to the west wall, an outside drinking fountain and a center service door for the fire barn; police department tasers/body cameras, squad cameras, two replacement squad cars, two radars and two vehicles for new squads; street department building repairs, paving on Vista, North Hokah and North Sprague streets, South Winnebago Street reconstruction and the North Warrior Avenue extension; sidewalks related to the South Winnebago Street reconstruction; and street equipment, including a snow hauler/tandem dump truck, a John Deere 544 end loader trade-in, a Jumping Jack and a Toolcat.
Staff asked council members to identify their priorities so adjustments can be made to the capital requests before the preliminary levy is set.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jeremy Leis at 6 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Present were council members Bob Klug, Amanda Ninneman, David Fitzpatrick, John Rauk and Mayor Leis.
Councilmember Rauk moved to approve the minutes from the August 24, regular city council meeting. Seconded by Councilmember Fitzpatrick, which passed unanimously.
Councilmember Rauk moved to approve the consent agenda including prepaid invoices totaling $133,812.98 and payable invoices totaling $144,702.29, a land use permit for Sno-Pac Foods at 527 Enterprise Lane to install sound barriers to screen the appearance and sound of the compressors to the adjoining property to the south. The city noted that it is not required but as a good neighbor, Sno-Pac is building the barriers. Also approved was the 2027 agreement with Solution Builders, Bloomington, Minnesota, to manage the city’s IT and cybersecurity services, and A1 Precision Pumping hauled wastewater permit application.
The highlight of Public Works/Zoning Director Casey Klug report was the Warrior Avenue project which got underway a week ago and the water department is expected to repair a leaky valve at the intersection of South Marshall Street and Monroe Street this week. Klug said staff have also been trying to schedule pool painting, which requires overnight temperatures warm enough for the paint to cure. He noted that the electric department has been busy for the last couple of weeks. Zoning has had a number of permits coming in and going out. The planning commission will be holding three public hearings next Monday.
In other business the council:
• Approved the amendment to the Warrior Ave. Design agreement;
• Accepted the MN44/76 sewer lining quote estimated at $45,420 from Subsurface, Inc., Moorhead, MN for 253 feet of sanitary sewer line needs repair. It is located from Caledonia Haulers truck wash on the west side of Hwy. 44 across the road to the east to McPhail St.;
• Accepted the estimated $5000 pool sandblasting quote from Russ Loomis Sandblasting. The pool must be sandblasted before the pool is painted;
• Approved hiring Mark Betz as a temporary, part-time street maintenance technician at $25 per hour until the full-time employee returns from leave;
• Approved paying Dennis Holty $1,425 for the loss of crops due to road construction. It was explained that this was not addressed when the city purchased the Doering field in June.
Before adjourning the meeting at 7:07 p.m., the mayor graciously thanked Mann for all her hard work putting the proposed budget together. They also reviewed the overtime reports for the pay period ending September 2.
Leave a Reply