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Fairmont approves tax hike

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont City Council approved a 2020 property tax hike of 12.6 percent earlier this week to cover anticipated increased spending of almost $600,000 next year. However, due to the growth in the overall Fairmont property values, the actual impact to taxpayers will be an increase of 9.9 percent.

Paul Hoye, city finance director, itemized the areas of spending changes which required a need for $593,000 in additional revenue next year: an additional $50,000 for street improvements, $200,000 for the new street and park building, $25,000 for a part-time rental housing/code enforcement position, $200,000 for the repair of the Ward Park boat landing and parking lot, $910,000 for the Margaret Street trail extension (with a portion covered by a state grant), an increase of $146,000 in local government aid from the state, a 3 percent cost of living increase, a 2.5 percent decrease in health insurance premiums and an 8.6 percent increase in workers compensation insurance.

The budget process started in late July with a council work session to set goals and priorities for 2020, some of which were street improvements, the rental ordinance, blighted properties, investigating a campground and a community center. A preliminary budget with a levy of 12.6 percent was approved in September and remained unchanged in the final proposal.

“It is relatively the same budget that you approved in September,” Hoye said. “The only addition that we have is at the library. There was an inspection done on the elevator where they found that the elevator was leaking oil, and they recommended replacing it. It’s original to the facility so it’s 50 years old.”

The $75,000 cost of the elevator replacement would be split evenly between the city and the county, with the city’s portion being drawn from reserve funds.

Expenditures in the general fund, which includes general government, public works, public safety and parks and recreation, will increase about $2 million in 2020,and these expenses will be covered by the annual transfer of $825,000 from the Public Utilities fund and a transfer from the liquor store reserve fund. One of the expenses will be half the cost of a $600,000 fire truck, which will replace two older models, with the remaining half being budgeted in 2021.

Hoye noted that the Public Utilities Commission plans to recommend a 5 percent increase in water and sewer rates in 2020, which would result in the average residential customer seeing a $4 per month increase in their billing.

The council adopted the budget and the property tax levy with both measures passing by a 4-1 vote. Council Wayne Hasek, who cast the lone dissenting vote, later said he did so because he was “sick of taxes going up.”

Turning to another matter, the council unanimously approved an employment agreement with Mark Sievert as the city’s interim City Administrator. Sievert has been retired for 18 months after spending 30 years in city government and economic development in Fergus Falls and Lake City.

Sievert’s annual salary of $87,360 will be prorated weekly, and the city will pay an additional $70 per hour for each hour he works in excess of three calendar days per week. Sievert’s contract has no expiration date, but his temporary employment will end with a two-week notice from him or the city.

In another matter, Mayor Debbie Foster called for a special council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 3 for the purpose of working on the group’s collaboration skills and an educational review of the open meeting law. Foster is coordinating the meeting with the League of Minnesota Cities, which is providing the service at no cost because Fairmont is a League member.

Foster said the council needed to take some action to try to work together because “these 3-2 votes, it’s not good for our community,” referring to the group’s numerous split votes. The meeting is intended to “benefit the working relationship between council members which, in turn, will benefit our community.”

The mayor’s action was precipitated by the council’s upcoming search for a new permanent city administrator set to begin in January, a process that could take up to eight months.

“There is a large amount of communication done during this search period between council members and the search firm, and I feel any knowledge and reminders of open meeting laws will only benefit all of us,” Foster said. “The hiring of our new city administrator, I feel, is the most important responsibility we as elected officials have to our community and to our current staff members. We need to get it right.”

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