Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Fergus Falls staff present preliminary 2026 budget driven higher by health-insurance jump
Summary
City staff presented a preliminary 2026 budget with proposed revenues just over $59 million and a proposed tax levy of $9,279,000 (an 8.53% increase); officials said a 24.9% health-insurance increase and other fixed costs pushed the estimate higher and that the levy could be reduced before final action in December.
Mayor Hicks convened the Committee of the Whole on Sept. 10 to hear the city’s preliminary 2026 budget, which staff presented as a work-in-progress with a proposed $9,279,000 tax levy and total revenues just over $59 million.
Bill Somner, who led the presentation, said staff compiled the budget after months of internal review and tax-levy committee meetings. “We are coming in higher than anyone on the committee wanted to do,” Somner said, adding that the figure represents a high-water mark the city intends to trim before final adoption in December.
Somner and staff identified several cost drivers. The single largest near-term pressure…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
