Understanding the City Budget

The Proposed Budget

The City of Minot drafts a yearly budget months in advance. It takes several hundreds of hours for staff to project, budget, and finalize a draft to present to the City Council for final approval. This page is designed to bring citizens into the fold of the City budget. To help Minot residents know the state of the city finances, projects, problems, and solutions.  See the City Manager present the budget to the Council below:



Budget Q and A

On August 28, the Committee of the Whole reviewed and questioned the staff's proposed 2019 city budget. Watch the full meeting:


Important Budget Documents

Information leading to the FY19 Budget

  1. FY19 Budget Workshop Day 2 - FINAL
  2. FY19 Budget Workshop Day 1 - FINAL
  3. FY 2019 Q and A Presentation - FINAL - 08-29-18

The FY19 Budget

  1. 2019 Preliminary Budget 8-6-18
  2. President's Message on the 2019 Budget

2019 Budget Overview

  • Up until last year, the City of Minot had dropped its property tax rate 40% over the past 12 years:
    • No other taxing entity can say that in our region, and perhaps our State
    • It was able to do this by shifting City expenses from Property Tax revenues to Sales Tax revenues
  • Whether you agree or not, this practice kept property taxes down:
    • Currently 53% (or $10.6M) of all Sales Tax Revenues subsidize property tax activities (Directly & Indirectly)
  • Last year’s property tax increase was needed since Sales Tax revenues continued their downward spiral:
    • ST Revenue dropped 27% ($7.3M) from 2014 ($27.3M) to 2017 ($20M)
    • The City lost nearly $15M in revenue in the last 3 years combined
    • As a resultant, the City had to shift costs back to Property Taxes to make up for the lost Sales Tax revenues
  • This year’s property tax increase is needed to restore funding to NAWS:
    • In 2011, Minot voters approved reallocating NAWS Money to Property Tax Relief, Infrastructure and Community Facilities
    • Currently, direct Property Tax Relief is the equivalent of 40% of Sales Tax Collections of two pennies. (10% from 1st penny, 30% from second penny)
    • The City distributed $40M in community grants and donations in the past 7 years
    • The NAWS Project is now able to continue, requiring a restoration of funding to complete it ($4M/year) which requires an additional shifting of costs from sales taxes back to property tax
    • A very small portion of the increase (about 3%) is also needed to make up for property valuation declines

Numbers to Know

6%:

  • The total impact to a property owner’s tax bill (on average) will be about 6%. This includes all other agencies (County, City, Park, School)

$4 Million (19.43 mills):

  • The cost of reallocating Sales Tax dollars to NAWS
    The City is increasing property taxes by about $4 million (to reallocate Sales Tax revenues back to NAWS)

14.79%:

  • The FY19 percentage of City revenue that comes from Property Tax collections

$13.49 or $161.91:

  • The amount taxes will go up per month/year on a median valued home

$178,000:

  • Median valued home in Minot

$205,920:

  • The projected value of a mill for FY19

40%:

  • The percent of mill levy reduction over the past decade

In June, the newly elected City Council learned about the financial challenges ahead for the City of Minot in a Budget Workshop series. With major projects like Flood Control and NAWS now under construction tough decision must be made moving forward to pay for essential city services and projects that protect home and property within the region. Learn about the state of City finances and why adjustments to revenue were needed heading into 2019.