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Fargo commission approves public safety sales tax plan to fund raises and new hires
Summary
The City Commission approved a two-year implementation plan for the public safety quarter-cent sales tax, directing most funds to pay structure changes, new hires and equipment with implementation starting July 7 if receipts arrive as expected.
The Fargo City Commission on May 27 approved a public safety sales tax utilization plan for 2025–26 that directs the majority of revenue to personnel pay adjustments, new hires and equipment. The commission voted 4–1 to approve the plan, with Commissioner Thunberg casting the lone no vote.
City staff member Mike Redinger summarized the plan as a 10-year framework with initial implementation in 2025 and a first-phase start date of July 7 if the city receives sales tax receipts. Redinger told the commission the plan would be reviewed annually and that officials intentionally used conservative revenue projections.
Under the 2025 portion of the plan, Fargo Fire would receive three new captains and three new firefighters for downtown response, funds for equipment and a facilities study, and an additional firefighter and a promotion to fire training captain in 2026. The police department plan includes three lieutenants, one sergeant and five new officers in 2026, equipment and technology for officer safety, a motorcycle unit fit-up, continued funding for a wellness coordinator and body-worn camera replacements and vehicles.
Redinger said about 80% of the sales-tax funds “will be directed specifically to personnel as well as the pay structures” and emphasized the plan supplements, rather than replaces, existing General Fund support. He said the city currently provides more than $60,000,000 in General Fund support to the two public safety departments that will continue.
Ron Gugisberg, president of Fargo Firefighters Local 642, urged fuller inclusion of labor in early planning and said the proposal “represents meaningful progress and for that we are grateful, but it also falls short in a few key areas,” citing concerns about step placement and exclusion of variable pay for specialties such as hazardous-materials and technical-rescue pay.
Commissioner Michelle Turnberg said voters backed the sales tax to increase firefighter pay and hire more officers and warned against deviating from that expectation. Turnberg told the commission, “If we take this tax and use it for anything other than what the public intended, we risk far more than bad headlines. We risk the trust of the people who put us here.”
Commissioners and staff stressed the plan is designed to be sustainable and revisited annually, with any additional revenue available for future adjustments. The motion approved directed staff to adopt the recommended pay plans and implement the 2025 equipment and facility requests and associated budget adjustments as presented.
