UPDATE 12/11/24 – After months of debate and hours of discussion that went late into Tuesday night, the Minneapolis City Council has adopted a $1.9 billion budget for next year.

About 40 people weighed in on Tuesday, and many voiced a concern about property taxes. The council ultimately approved a property tax hike of 6.9% and ended the meeting shortly before midnight.

Mayor Jacob Frey had proposed a property tax increase as high as 8.3% but has said he’d go as low as 6.4% if the council cut some of the nearly 80 amendments.

However, councilors approved a record 71 amendments – though it wasn’t fully supported.

There were also concerns over funding non-profits, which was addressed several times by council member Linea Palmisano.

In response to the budget, Mayor Frey put out a statement late Tuesday, saying, “The Council’s budget proposal sets the City up for paying increased property taxes for years to come. It cuts things we need to do like unsheltered homelessness response and recruitment of police, then uses the money to fund pet projects.”

Frey must now approve the budget for it to be finalized.

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INITIAL STORY: 12/10/24 – Minneapolis City Council members proposed a record 70+ amendments to the 2025 city budget as of Tuesday.

The previous record of 45 was set last year, according to Linea Palmisano, who formerly served as the Council’s Budget Committee chair.

By the interview at lunchtime on Tuesday, council members had spent about 15 hours in budget markup meetings. They were roughly halfway through the proposed amendments, and Palmisano was concerned about the total cost.

“While we might be shifting around existing funds or taking money from the general fund, that is actually money that usually decreases the following year’s budget Levy,” she said.

“So far in this budget amendment process, we’ve increased what would end up being ongoing spending by about $8 million.”

Palmisano echoed a statement from Mayor Jacob Frey’s office late last week, urging the Council to “rein in new spending.” Mayor Frey also accused members of “funding unvetted, short-term projects” and called some proposals “ward-specific pet projects.”

78 amendments were proposed and she proposed one levy reduction-related amendment, but it failed, Palmisano said.

Budget Committee Vice Chair Emily Koski disagreed with all of the above, except the amendment count which she did not confirm or deny.

“He chose to ignore some of the greatest needs that our residents wanted, and so… Now you see us continuing to reprioritize and make sure that the needs of our residents are met. So, by calling them small pet projects, is quite honestly, it’s condescending and it’s hurtful,” she said.

“We’re making some changes and some updates, but we’re definitely not increasing spending.”

In a midnight press release from a spokesperson for Budget Committee Chair Aisha Chughtai, the Council’s ‘progressive’ majority ‘advanced’ 71 amendments. The Council proposed 74 in total, they said.

Palmisano also feared there was a chance the budget would not be finalized by the end-of-the-year deadline.

“Now I hope it won’t come to that. I don’t expect it to come to that, but at this point in time, it is so unusual that our council leadership and our budget chair have brought forward 78 new amendments,” she said.

Koski, on the other hand, expected to send a budget to the Mayor’s office for review by the end of the night.

“I do not have a concern that we won’t have a finalized budget. We will get there. We will absolutely get there,” she said.

The Council did not finish taking final action on several amendments before the public’s final opportunity to weigh in on the 2025 budget during an evening public hearing.

That did not concern Koski.

“I am not concerned. Individuals who are coming tonight are also here to talk about their property taxes, and we’ve had two other public hearings for the public to come and speak to us about our budget proposals and amendments. The amendments have been online for now, let’s see, over a week,” she said.

Palmisano didn’t argue the information was publicly available but was worried about residents’ ability to keep up with the changes.

“It’s hard to track, it is changing all the time, and I worry that it doesn’t get a proper vetting from the community,” she said.

“In my experience — this is my 11th budget year — I’ve never seen a budget not ready for the community to fully react to as amended.”

The budget has to be approved by the Council and Mayor Frey by the end of the year.

Frey sent the following statement on Tuesday, saying, “The Council’s budget proposal sets the City up for paying increased property taxes for years to come. It cuts things we need to do like unsheltered homelessness response and recruitment of police, then uses the money to fund pet projects. Financial times are tight and when federal funding is likely to be withheld and state dollars are in short supply, we need to be responsible with our tax dollars. Over the next day, we will be reviewing the unprecedented 73+ amendments that the council has proposed and making a decision.”

During Tuesday’s public comment, nearly 40 community members shared — addressing a range of programs and issues, with many expressing concerns with the proposed property tax increases and feeling like the city is pricing them out of town. 

“My property taxes are going up 14%, $700. I realize I’m speaking from privilege because I do have a home that I’ve lived in for many years,  but I don’t have the luxury of just increasing wages,” Minneapolis resident Beth Popalisky said.

Following public comment, council members continued addressing the proposed amendments — debating for hours once again. Several times, concerns over funding nonprofits through the amendments were shared — Palmisano at one point saying she doesn’t feel it’s right picking “winners and losers” like this, in regard to locking in funds for the nonprofit.   

“So, it feels like director, we’re hand-picking projects up here, during the budget process, that this doesn’t meet the spirit of nonprofit gap funding initiative,” Palminsano said to a city leader, adding “And, that concerns me, I’m concerned about setting a precedent for funding only certain projects and not making these funds available openly.”

Despite the pushback on many amendments during the debate, they passed with enough support. 

During a 5:30 p.m. press conference prior to the meeting, community members, including people from MFT, Take Action MN and Our Streets, spoke about the budget, which can be viewed in the video player below.

While councilors have already debated budget cuts, one of the main items being considered was a cut to the budget for the Minneapolis Police Department, but that was rejected.

Among the funding, Mayor Frey plans to set aside more than $1 million to hire more officers, as staffing levels still aren’t up to par.

Frey has also agreed to a package that would reduce the overall property tax hike from 8.3% to 6.4%, if the council cut some of the 73 proposed budget amendments. For example, a property tax levy increase of 8.3% would cost about $214 a year for a median-value home in the city.

The budget committee debated a number of items in the budget on Monday, which at times got heated.

Community members were able to voice their opinions at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

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