Brainerd City Council Discusses 2023 Levy at Budget Workshop

The Brainerd City Council held a budget workshop recently to discuss working funds, debt, and capital funds for the 2023 levy and budget.

The preliminary levy was certified at a little under $7 million, which is a 9.5% increase from 2022. This is largely due to a lawsuit settlement the city must pay out to five former full-time fire fighters.

The council would like to see a 3% levy increase for 2023, which would ultimately lower taxes.

“So we looked at the estimated market value, and the tax capacity of the city for the last couple of years,” said Brainerd finance director Connie Hillman. “We’ve seen a modest increase, but the preliminary 2023 shows a 22% change in our estimated market value, which equates to almost a 25% increase in the city’s tax capacity. That is a huge increase, but that explains why we can have an almost 10% increase in the levy, and have a decrease in our tax rate.”

Council members will present a budget with a 3% levy increase in a public hearing, which is set to take place at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 12.