Minneapolis mayor unveils 2025 city budget, including 8.1% tax levy hike
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis could see a big tax hike as part of Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey's nearly $1.9 billion budget proposal.
Frey unveiled the budget on Wednesday which includes two bumps to the tax levy: 8.1% in 2025 and another 9.8% in 2026.
"Our employees inspect buildings, they take care of shelter animals, they work in our civil rights department, they save lives," Frey said. "They also feed their families, they pay for daycare and they, like everyone, they have medical bills."
Frey said tough decisions had to be made to get down to an 8% increase. Public works employees recently signed a new contract boosting their pay by nearly 30%, and the police department has a new deal increasing pay by about 20%.
The mayor's proposed budget also includes more than $26 million in investments toward police and public safety reforms that were mandated after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. That includes adding 28 civilian positions to the police department and millions to boost its Behavioral Crisis Response team.
About $30 million is allotted for projects related to affordable housing, and $10 million would go to climate and public health projects, including more electric vehicle charging stations. Nearly $200,000 would also go towards what city leaders call the "first-in-the-nation" biochar facility where tree waste is converted into a carbon-reducing "sponge."
More than half a million dollars would go to help "activate Nicollet Mall and revitalize downtown," and $300,000 would go to "George Floyd Square art preservation."
Frey's budget also calls for a new labor relations job in the city's HR department, further investment in "East African cultural media programming" and $385,000 to help create a new framework to help city employees "embed racial equity principals in day-to-day work."
LIUNA Local 363, the union that represents hundreds of city employees, released a statement on Tuesday praising Frey's plan.
"Mayor Frey's budget invests in essential services which directly benefit the entire community," said LIUNA Local 363 president Joel Smith. "This budget supports our shared vision for Minneapolis — a city with good jobs, fair wages, and a high quality of life for all residents."
LIUNA also represents many of the city's park workers, who recently held a historic three-week strike. Both sides eventually reached a contract agreement, which the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board approved earlier this month.