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City Council of Comfrey raises water and sewer rates, adopts paid-leave premium split and approves sheriff contract increase
Summary
The City Council of Comfrey on Nov. 12 adopted new water and sewer rates effective Jan. 16, 2026, approved a 50/50 employer-employee split for Minnesota Paid Leave premiums, and accepted a 3.7% rate increase for Brown County sheriff services; several other routine motions were also passed unanimously.
The City Council of Comfrey voted on Nov. 12 to raise residential water and sewer rates and approved multiple other routine motions, all by unanimous votes.
The council adopted resolutions to set the water base fee at $28.00 with a charge of $7.00 per 1,000 gallons and to set the sewer base fee at $32.50 with a $6.50 per 1,000 gallons charge. The changes take effect Jan. 16, 2026 and will appear on the next billing cycle to consumers. The motion was made by Council Member Kastner and seconded by Council Member Redman and carried unanimously.
The council also approved a 3.7% hourly rate increase for Brown County Sheriff’s Department services for 2026 (motion by Redman, second by Kastner) and rescinded a prior decision for the city to pay 100% of Minnesota Paid Leave premiums. Following the auditor’s recommendation to follow 50/50 premium guidelines for tax and reporting consistency, the council approved a motion to split the paid-leave premium between the city and employees, each paying 50% (motion by Arnsdorf, second by Kastner). Both motions carried unanimously.
Other votes taken during the meeting included approval of the Oct. 14 meeting minutes (motion by Arnsdorf, second by Evers), payment of bills totaling $82,321.24 (motion by Redman, second by Kastner), acceptance of donations from Comfrey Area Pride ($1,000 to the fire department and $1,000 to first responders) and Schult Homes ($100 to first responders) via resolution (motion by Evers, second by Redman), and approval of the October financial report (motion by Redman, second by Arnsdorf). The council also approved hiring Sydney Rosenstengel as a first responder (motion by Arnsdorf, second by Evers) and increased the first responder captain’s annual stipend from $300 to $500 (motion by Evers, second by Arnsdorf).
The council set a public hearing on certifying unpaid utility bills to the tax roll for Dec. 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM at the Comfrey Community Center for any residents wishing to appear after notice (motion by Redman, second by Evers).
All motions reported in the minutes carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:11 PM.
