Minnetrista council adopts 2026 levy and budget after discussion of nearly 10% levy increase

Minnetrista — The Minnetrista City Council adopted the city’s final 2026 tax levy and approved the 2026 budgets for the general fund, special revenue funds, debt service, capital improvement program and enterprise funds during its Dec. 8 meeting.

Finance Director Brian Grim told the council the recommended final gross tax levy was about $7.84 million and represented a 9.92% gross increase relative to the preliminary levy the council certified earlier in the year. Grim said the levy funds general operations, debt service, roads and equipment reserves, and that the adopted budget is designed to preserve a target fund balance of roughly 40% of general-fund expenditures.

Grim and councilmembers described expected homeowner impacts using several examples. Grim said a typical city-share increase could be on the order of $60–$140 annually depending on property value (about $5–$12 per month); he noted the city controls only its share of a total property tax bill, with county and school levies typically larger. The council emphasized those were illustrative examples provided during the meeting.

Following the presentation and brief discussion about the county assessor’s role in setting property valuations, the council moved to adopt the final 2026 tax levy and to adopt the full 2026 budgets. Both motions passed on voice votes recorded as 5–0.

The council did not change the levy during the meeting; Grim said the city has met multiple work-session deadlines since August and would submit the certified levy to the county by the end of the month. Next steps include final publication and incorporation of the levy and budget into the city’s 2026 financial documents.