City Council Budget Workshop

June 1, 2026

The workshop began at 5:33 with Council members Goggin, Kliewer, Lambert and Mayor Iocco absent.

The first topic was a presentation by staff at Northwood Securities.

The City received a Community Energy Transition Grant that is designed to assist the city in preparing for a transitioning tax base due to changing tax revenue from Xcel Energy. The City contracted with Northland Securities in Minneapolis to conduct a study and prepare a long-range financial plan. This was a preliminary report done with input by city staff.

This report will help shape a long-range financial plan. Noteworthy is that the year 2030 includes a projection for a new apartment building to be built in 2028. There is a 2-year lag in construction to the tax capacity. It would be necessary to go back 5 years for general fund expenditures and revenue to help eliminate grabbing funds from the general fund. In 5 years there will be a new Wastewater Treatment Plant and a new Public Safety Building.

The second topic is a preliminary look at the 2027-2031 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)

Someone named Tony (he was not introduced) led the presentation on the CIP (was only identified with abbreviations)

We look to a 5-year plan for budgeting capital improvements. Roads, Public Works, Public Safety Buildings, Parks, Sidewalks/trails.

City has 102 miles of road, and roads need repair and maintenance. It gets really expensive when the utilities underneath the roads need to be redone. So planning is key. There are different ways to repair or reconstruct roads. Mill and overlay vs reclamation. We are getting $4 million from the state, but not quite sure where that will be applied.

There is a Parks Master Plan in the CIP. This outlines equipment and improvements and the timing of scheduling these in one or two year intervals.

Public Safety Building – recommend building without the garage. Considering building the garage in 2031 for $5,500 million after we have the tax base.

Discussion on the perils of differing work to keep the levy flat. Janie mentioned that we should consider removing items all together rather than deferring them due to cost. Beth agreed with this idea. Kim Beise mentioned that previously holding the levy flat hits us now – with not enough capital to maintain the city. He mentioned his concern that we can no longer be referenced at ‘Pretty Red Wing.’ He wants the council to think of today and look forward. Becky asked about the level of service the council would like to provide.

Personal note: I found the staff presentation to be thoughtful, and very interesting. If you would like more details, here is the link to the video recording, and voce the curser to the time 48:28.  https://redwingmn.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3957/media