Photo by Kirsten Zoellner
After months of discussing the budget and tax levy for 2026, the Rushford Village Council approved the preliminary at $764,099 at their September 16 meeting. The amount was determined by taking into consideration the current disbursements for the year, estimated disbursements for September-December based on 2024 numbers, the current estimated budget shortfall of $65,455, and a list of needs and projects for 2026.
“It is a 14.5% increase, which is a lot,” said City Clerk Mary Miner. “We have until December. By then, I’d say we should have that cut in half or better.”
Items included in the 2026 budget include a $30,000 generator for the village hall and maintenance shop, the new part-time Public Works assistant wages, a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment and pay grade step increase for village employees, a $2,000 increase in the tool budget, $3,500 for a Public Works trailer, $106,000 in Public Works needs including $25,000 each for road maintenance, the grader, truck, and bridges, plus $6,000 for the mower. The garbage collection contract is also up an estimated 6-7% in 2026.
Miner and City Treasurer Judy Graham were asked by Acting Mayor Mike Ebner where they would cut back, if it could be done. Graham responded with a simple, “Just plain staying within the budget would be helpful.” While certain things in 2025 were under budget, including the new truck purchase, the village is over budget for the year.
“We can’t look at the past. We need to look forward. Let’s look at 2026 …” countered Ebner after some discussion.
“What we’re talking about is the time we spend in each one of these categories; in the end, doesn’t mean anything, because, well, we’re gonna finish the shed anyway. We’re gonna get this or we’re gonna do that. We do it and it comes out of somewhere else,” added Graham.
“You can’t say we’re not following the budget,” continued Ebner. “Talking with Dennis a little bit, he wants to keep it high for now. This is just the initial budget. After tonight, then we’ve got to start picking this apart and figure it out. I totally agree with you, it’s too high.”
“That comes back to what I’m saying … the line item instead of the total,” said Graham. “So we come up with a total tonight, and then you come back and well, we cut it back. Okay … where are we going to cut it? That’s what we have to look at,” stressed Graham.
“We value your input a lot,” said Councilor Travis Link. “This is a complete wish of everything and then, we’ll whittle it down. Still, it’s a high number and we’re gonna hear a lot and get a lot of backlash from people, maybe.”
“That might be good for people to hear, because there are a lot of things that aren’t in the budget that we should be doing, too. We’ve got money that needs to be spent on some of these roads and that, that we’re not even thinking about,” said Ebner. “Our state funding is getting cut and we’re not making up for it. If we’re gonna make up for it, we’re gonna have to do increases. A lot of the towns are up 10, 12%. I don’t mean to get hot. This is the initial budget and this is where the work starts.”
Also at the meeting were Community Economic Development Associates development specialist Jayme Longmire and regional manager Laura Qualey. The two spoke about tri-city collaboration with Rushford and Peterson and opportunities for growth in housing and what that would mean for zoning. Specifically, Longmire discussed possible changes to the structure of the revolving loan fund that could assist with economic development.
During discussion of Planning & Zoning, Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit referenced a letter from the Nature Conservancy regarding the possible sale of the Leon Quarve property.
“Through the discussion, our EDA people have given us hope. There might be a way out of this,” said Pettit. “We’re losing taxes kind of continuously. In this property, it’s just another 33 acres, but ties up to another 300 acres that rumor has it, is tied up to another 80 acres. We don’t get anything for it and they don’t seem to understand it.”
Qualey spelled out a state statute that provides an exemption for cities that were townships to recoup lost property taxes. She indicated that as long as these cities haven’t passed an ordinance prohibiting hunting and have received tax payments from 2006 or after, there may be an option to get some of the tax revenues. It’s unclear whether or not this would apply retroactively to other land sales that ultimately end in state land.
Pettit indicated that Representative Greg Davids has said he’ll back the village by signing legislation to recoup tax revenue lost to the state in these types of sales if the county commissioners sign off on it. “The county’s got the money. They just haven’t given it to us,” said Pettit. “So, the question is, they’ve gotten it, so why wouldn’t it be [retroactive]?”
The village will need a council member to step up to work with the commissioners and Davids on this issue.
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