Nisswa property owners will see an 11% hike in the city portion of their general revenue property tax levy after the Nisswa City Council approved the 2022 budget and levy.
The council on Tuesday, Dec. 21, approved a total general revenue tax levy of $2,786,000, which is $276,000 higher than this year. However, the final levy number is a decrease of $87,950 from the preliminary levy of $2,873,950 set in September.
This follows just a 1.82% increase in city property taxes in 2021, which City Administrator Jenny Max attributed to the council being mindful of COVID-19 pandemic impacts on people.
The city’s 2022 tax rate is estimated at 31.020%, compared to the 2021 rate of 30.712%.
Nisswa has the fifth lowest tax rate in 2022 in Crow Wing County, and the second lowest when comparing Nisswa to similar cities.
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Max said the city will see a 9.89% increase in net tax capacity, which reflects how much property value the city has and means the tax impact will be spread over more city properties.
That total levy includes:
General property tax levy: $2,237,863.
General obligation street reconstruction bond for the County Road 18/Highway 371 realignment project: $90,258.
General obligation capital improvement plan bond for the city hall building: $183,304.
General obligation street reconstruction bond for various road improvements: $274,575.
No one spoke at a public hearing held before the council’s regular meeting for residents to ask questions about the proposed final budget and tax levy. One woman did later ask a question about the increase.
The council approved a 2022 general fund budget of $3,397,882, or 10.11% higher than in 2021 ($3,086,037).
City budgets are divided into the following funds:
Governmental Funds: General Fund and Debt Service Funds.
Proprietary Funds: Liquor Fund (Spirits of Nisswa and the Pickle Factory municipal liquor operations) and Sewer Fund.
Nonmajor Funds: Capital Project Fund and Special Revenue Fund.
City revenues include General Fund revenue, General Fund levy and transfers from the Liquor Fund ($40,000 from the Pickle Factory and $225,000 from Spirits of Nisswa).
An increase in expenses for 2022 include:
$108,000 in wage increases due to a market adjustment for staff wages based on a compensation study plus a 5% cost-of-living increase in staff wages.
$70,000 to keep the city’s recycling operation (Crow Wing County will contribute $35,000).
$44,000 in funding for parks and recreation programming.
$20,000 increase in workers compensation.
$25,000 for country/state road project reserves.
Residents and businesses can visit the city’s website to find the impact to their property taxes.
Max said a new item staff and council members worked on during the budget process was a strategic plan process. Goals of a strategic plan are to promote best practices, preserve natural resources, expand business in an efficient and purposeful manner, maximize services and revenues, and provide a roadmap for the future.
Strategic plan categories include long range infrastructure plan (10-year capital improvement plans for departments), policy and ordinance synchronization, employee retention and satisfaction plan, operations efficiency plan and a safety plan.
Max said the council spent the most time on the capital improvement plans. This process will continue.
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Nancy Vogt may be reached at 218-855-5877 or nancy.vogt@pineandlakes.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Nancy.
