A $216.26 million budget could mean lower taxes for Minot property owners for 2026. The $20.1 million tax levy approved by the Minot City Council Monday, Oct. 6, in finalizing the budget does not use any of the 3% property tax increase allowed in state law or account for any new growth, according to the Finance Department.

The city’s share of the property tax per $100,000 of residential property would be $353.75, down $83.25 from the current year.

The owner of a $250,000 home would see a bill of about $884, down from $1,092. Changes might be different for individual homeowners, depending on whether their homes experienced valuation changes.

Council member Mike Blessum said the City of Minot has been a leader in meeting the intent of the Legislature to curb property taxes.

“Let it be said the City of Minot and this council did its part to get the funding back into the people’s pockets,” he said.

The council approved the final budget on a 6-1 vote, with Paul Pitner dissenting.

“I want to see a City of Minot that’s sustainable. I want the City of Minot to be honest with what it costs to run their government,” Pitner said. “I don’t know if this budget achieves that. I think we are lying to ourselves on the amount of reserves that we’re spending and buying down the cost of what it is we are going to save.”

He cited previous course corrections by the council that resulted in property tax increases and predicted more course corrections in the near future.

“You look at the amount of deferred maintenance in our infrastructure,” he said. “Lack of economic development that keeps our youth here. Neglected city halls. Neglected police stations. Those were all worthwhile. I will defend the decisions to invest in those things.”

The council added back some spending that was cut from the budget on first reading, including restoring North Dakota League of Cities dues, a heavy equipment operator position and additional downtown Facade Improvement Program funding.

Reopening the budget discussion to reconsider items previously adopted drew testy discussion. The council voted 4-3 to suspend the rule prohibiting council members on the losing side of an issue to move to reconsider.

“Now we’re changing the rules, so the people that didn’t get everything that they said they wanted can bring it back and we can reconsider it. I really don’t understand this. The losing side – if you want to call it that – has never had the ability to bring anything back,” council member Rob Fuller said. “This to me smacks as ‘hey, we didn’t get our way, so we’re going to change the rules.'”

Joining him in dissent on the motion were Blessum and Scott Samuelson.

Council member Mike Hayes, who had voted on the prevailing side of withholding dues to the League of Cities, asked to reconsider, saying he wasn’t fully informed on the first vote. He had voted with Blessum, Samuelson and Fuller for withdrawal from the organization because of the League’s position to negotiate rather than oppose an annual 3% cap on property tax increases during legislative discussion.

Just because the League didn’t go Minot’s direction one time, that’s not a reason to abandon the organization, Hayes said. Given the information and training provided by the League, Minot should stick with other major cities and the 350-plus members and pay the $25,000 dues, he said.

Fuller noted Minot’s decision to leave the League had received support from some sectors around the state.

“There’s been a couple of news things talking about how it’s true leadership that we pulled out of the League of Cities when nobody else has, because they are basically a lobbying group for the bigwigs down in Bismarck,” he said, citing the League’s stance against the initiated measure to abolish property taxes.

“We made a decision because we didn’t like what they did with our money,” Fuller said. “We didn’t like that decision, so we made our decision here.” Reversing that decision now sets an “awful precedent,” he said.

Council member Lisa Olson acknowledged a disagreement with the League but listed a number of positive things the League provides, from bill tracking and advocacy for funding during legislative sessions to training for city and election officials.

“We need to spend $25,000 and continue our membership in 2026 because we, obviously, can see millions of dollars coming back,” Olson said.

With Hayes’ reversal, the motion to join the League passed 4-3.

The council also adopted $328,318 in various cuts across city departments. Finance Director David Lakefield suggested the cuts based on past history of actual spending in those areas. This reduced the reliance on reserves to keep taxes down. The budget had included spending $10 million in general fund reserves.

Council member Lisa Olson’s proposal to transfer $2 million in reserves into shoring up the pension trust fund failed. Lakefield said the trust fund is secure at present but the council likely will need to shore it up at some future time as the city continues its transition away from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan.

The council approved an amendment related to the first penny of sales tax that allowed the 15% set aside for economic development to go into the general fund. The council previously agreed to fund Minot Area Chamber EDC from the sales tax, transferring the remainder of the 15% allocation to the general fund for property tax relief.

Council member Paul Pitner argued for holding $200,000 to cover potential requests within the Facade Improvement Program before the program eventually sunsets. About $420,000 currently is in the facade fund, with four applicants seeking funding and a few others indicating interest, said Brian Billingsley, community and economic development director.

The additional facade funding to ensure requests are covered was approved 5-2, with Fuller and Samuelson dissenting.

Blessum commended the staff for developing a base budget that slowed the trajectory of growth.

“One thing I will say, though, is that while this budget is significantly different and is a pretty major course correction,” he said, “we really haven’t changed our spending much at all.”

He noted the $220 million budget is up from the original $211 million in the preliminary budget.

“We’re planning to spend almost $9 million more than we thought we were going to spend. Now, through a lot of hard work and a lot of different ways of looking at things, we’re also reducing the levy by about $10 million,” he said.

Lakefield explained the increased overall spending reflects budget transfers and changes in the way items such as vehicle replacements are funded, as well as the spending of reserves.

About half of the general fund cash reserves is proposed to be spent on the police department, Blessum noted. Staff shortages in that department have saved the city money and created those reserves, so it is appropriate to spend the reserves to improve facilities for the police, he said.

By not spending into its 3% levy cap, the city will be able to carry that amount over to a future budget.