Isanti Council adopts preliminary 2025 budget package with $1,000 levy tweak; also approves CUP amendment and DigiTicket contract

The Isanti City Council voted unanimously to approve a set of preliminary 2025 budget and levy resolutions, with the mayor’s motion to reduce the general fund levy by $1,000 carried as part of a package vote.

“I'll make a motion for all 3 then with, the thousand dollar reduction to the general fund levy on the, third 1 there,” the mayor said before the council voted; the motion passed 4-0.

Finance staff (Mike) framed the budget around three council goals: avoid paying debt with taxes, maintain a steady declining tax rate over time and keep long-term capital planning. He described the approach to operating revenue, intergovernmental aid (including LGA), capital projects and capital maintenance and explained that staff had modeled a nearly 0% change to the tax rate for 2025. Staff also said they planned to use roughly $158,000 of fund balance in the preliminary figures and that, after a small reduction to the general fund levy, the rates and fund-balance plans would approximate the council’s direction for minimal rate change.

Council discussion ranged from the proposed use of fund balance to timing of large capital purchases. Members debated replacing the city-hall central air unit (staff said useful life assumptions and rising refrigerant/production costs made replacement a consideration) and noted that some long‑lead items (snowplow trucks, squad vehicles) should be ordered early. Staff cautioned that insurance renewals and other late-year items could still change final numbers before adoption.

The council also approved two separate agenda items by unanimous vote:

- A conditional-use permit amendment for Winter Greens (applicant: Mr. Stoskey) to add fenced pickleball courts on an adjacent parcel (304 Bridal Union Drive) subject to conditions recommended by the Planning Commission (fencing aligned with existing volleyball court boundaries, maintaining grass between the curb and courts for drainage and obtaining required zoning/building/electrical permits).

- Authorization to enter a contract with DigiTicket to support Oracle-based ticket writing for police records and citations. Staff said the city currently budgets $9,300 for LATG maintenance in 2025 and expects to transition to DigiTicket; staff presented an annual DigiTicket fee of $5,664 and an upfront implementation fee listed in the packet (figure in the transcript was unclear). Staff said the county and Cambridge are coordinating on similar integration work and that the city would only pay the recurring application fee once the system is operational.

All formal motions recorded at the meeting carried 4-0. No final budget adoption occurred — the council approved preliminary levy and budget resolutions that will be refined before final adoption later in the year.