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City manager warns Minot general‑fund reserves will decline if expenditures outpace tax revenues
Summary
City manager and finance staff presented a short slide deck showing general‑fund expenditures projected to grow faster than tax revenues, prompting council questions about a roughly 29% projected expense increase through 2027 and note that reserves include planned police building costs.
City staff told the Minot City Council during the manager’s report that recent budgeting work produced a three‑year projection showing general‑fund expenditures rising faster than tax revenues and that the city will need to use reserves to balance those trends unless corrective steps are taken.
The presentation explained the three data series: a top line for general‑fund expenditures (operations such as public safety, streets and administration), a middle line for tax revenue trends (property and sales taxes) and a bottom line for projected reserve levels. The manager said the budget process included three years of budgets and staff used those figures to extrapolate forward; the takeaway was that a growing delta between expenditures and revenues would draw down reserves.
During council questions Alderman Blessum summarized his reading of the slide: "From '23 to '27, I'm looking at about a 29% increase in expenses in about a 4 year period," and urged focusing on expense levers to bring the projection into balance. The manager cautioned that the reserves figure includes planned future enhancements to the police department building and other timing variables that influence the trend line. Staff said there is still time to address the trajectory but it will require deliberate planning and possible changes to expenditures or revenue measures.
The presentation closed with a staff pledge to improve public‑facing forecasting and provide more digestible graphics and trend information for council and the public. No formal decisions were made at the meeting; the discussion was framed as preparatory for upcoming budget work.
Next steps: Staff will refine forecasts for the 2027 budget cycle, present department‑level options to bring spending into alignment with revenues and prepare materials to aid council decisions about reserves, service levels and revenue adjustments.
