Brainerd City Council Discusses Next Year’s Budget, Preliminary Levy

The Brainerd City Council held a special workshop on Monday to discuss next year’s budget.

As of now, the city would need to raise property taxes by about 12% compared to this year’s rate. The council must set a preliminary levy by the end of next month, but they agreed to wait as long as they can before doing so to get the tax increase as low as possible.

“[The] county’s job is to make sure that we’re following the rules, and our job is to make sure that we’re saving our taxpayers as much money as possible while still providing the best services,” said Brainerd City Council President Michael O’Day. “So there lies the battle. I’m more comfortable pushing this back.”

Last year, the council set the preliminary levy at an 8% increase compared to 2023 but ultimately brought that down to a 2% increase.