Two Harbors Finance Director, Miranda Pietila presented the City Council and a small number of city residents with the proposed budget and property tax levy for 2025 at Monday night’s meeting. In September, the City Council adopted a preliminary property tax levy of 6%. The Finance Committee reviewed the city’s budget needs for the coming year and was able to determine that the levy could be lowered while maintaining a balanced budget for the city. Accordingly, the levy for 2025 was lowered to 3.5%. This means that the city wide general fund levy will increase by $87,856 over last year. What the 3.5% levy increase means for homeowners is that, for a home valued at $200,000, the property owner will pay $1015 in property taxes for 2025. This represents an actual decrease of $6.00 over property taxes for 2024. For a home valued at $400,000, the owner will pay $2305 in property taxes which represents an increase of $54 over the 2024 property tax amount. The 2025 general fund budget revenues are anticipated to be at $5,874,844. 45% of general fund revenues are generated through property taxes. The Council voted to adopt the proposed budget and tax levy for 2025. For a more detailed look at the 2025 city budget and levy, interested residents can visit the city’s website.
The Council recognized several city workers for their years of service. Justin Bredow, Toby Halley and Richard Kempfert were recognized for 5 years of service, Joe Cavallin, for 10 years of service and Steve Kosmo, for 30 years of service.
Fire Chief, Mark Schlangen presented the Council with a hiring proposal for five crew members for the Fire Department. Though there are not currently 5 positions that are open on the Fire Department roster, there are a number of upcoming retirements and department vacancies and Chief Schlangen is looking to make sure that future department staffing needs are adequately covered. The Council approved the request and the Fire Department will be hiring Ryan Endicott, Nate Eide, Beth Haselow, Jerrod Oliver and Jake Wenholz.
The Winter Frolic Committee has asked to have a fireworks display on Saturday, February 8th at 6:00pm. The Council approved this request. Council member Barb Ormarzu reminded the Council that veterans and survivors of domestic violence may struggle with the sound of fireworks and asked that city residents receive ample notification prior to February 8th in consideration of those concerns.
The next Two Harbors Council meeting will be held on January 13 at 5:30pm.
