BLUE EARTH– In a very short special meeting held on Monday, the Blue Earth City Council voted to approve the 2026 budget and took another vote to approve the 2026 property tax levy.

The special meeting was necessary as the council decided at its regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 15, that it needed some more time to study the budget and the cuts to the budget, and the final levy increase for next year.

In the end, the levy increase that passed this past Monday night was a 13.4 percent increase over this year, which was the same as had been brought up at the previous meeting.

There were eight members of the public in attendance at the meeting, and none of them spoke when the mayor opened up the meeting to public comment.

The council members also had little to no comments about the budget or levy during the short, nine-minute long meeting.