Minneapolis mayor makes high-stakes pitch for budget trims, tax hike
Why it matters: The mayor proposed Wednesday to increase the city's property tax levy by 7.8% next year — Minneapolis' largest levy hike since 2010, if enacted — though the increase could've been higher without $23 million in cuts the mayor has suggested.
He contends the budget proposal shields taxpayers from a flood of rising costs without employee layoffs or deep cuts to core services like road repairs or police.
What they're saying:"This was not an easy budget year. But it's also not a crisis budget. This is a disciplined budget," Frey is expected to say in his budget address Wednesday morning, according to draft text shared with Axios.
Zoom in: If Minneapolis made no major budget changes, city officials would've needed a much larger levy increase next year — as much as 13% — to keep up with rising costs, mostly for salaries, benefits and construction expenses.
By eliminating two dozen vacant positions and making other money-saving accounting moves, city officials were able to reduce next year's levy increase.
Minneapolis would also save $3.6 million by eliminating "double-time" overtime pay for police officers. (The department has spent record amounts on OT amid a staffing shortage, per the Star Tribune.)
The big picture: The mayor now has to sell the $2 billion budget proposal to the City Council — which is controlled by Frey critics — during an election year, as even some of the mayor's council allies are pleading for limits to the levy increase.
Friction points: The mayor's budget saves money by ending or reorganizing programs that the council funded, but were deemed "untested or unsustainable."
For example, instead of four Open Streets festivals, the mayor proposes to fund only three — and Frey has already faced criticism for stifling the event.
The city would also continue a sidewalk-shoveling partnership with neighborhood groups, but abandon other efforts to explore city-run sidewalk clearing programs that have intrigued council members.
What we're watching: How the council — which makes most final budget decisions — responds.
Last year, Frey's council critics banded together to reshape the budget, and ultimately overrode the mayor's veto of their rewritten spending plan.
What's next: The city's Board of Estimate and Taxation will set the maximum levy amounts later this fall, though the council can always approve smaller tax increases.
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