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City staff present first look at 2026 budget; draft levy up 6.7% overall, general fund levy up 7.5%
Summary
City staff previewed a draft 2026 budget and tax levy, citing known cost increases — including the end of a federal SAFER grant and new payroll mandates — that together push a draft overall levy up about 6.7% and the general fund levy about 7.5%. Council was asked to target a Sept. 8 preliminary levy adoption to meet the Sept. 30 state deadline.
City Administrator Wilson and Finance Director Amy Hov gave the Inver Grove Heights City Council a first look at the city's draft 2026 operating budget and tax levy, projecting a draft overall levy of $36,499,899 — an increase of $2,285,142, or about 6.7% from 2025.
The draft general fund budget is shown at $36,737,519 and the proposed general fund levy is $30,684,754, which Hov described as a 7.5% increase for that component. Wilson and Hov told the council that roughly $1,450,000 in additional expenditures tied to previously committed items (including phase-ins after grant support ends and settled union contract increases) account for much of the upward pressure on the levy.
Why it matters: staff stressed timing and statutory requirements. Under Minnesota state statute cities must adopt a preliminary property tax levy by Sept. 30; staff recommended aiming for the council's first September meeting on Sept. 8 to allow time for adjustments before the county compiles parcel notices in November and the final-levy deadline…
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