Minot council passes 2027 budget on first reading after public hearing; mill levy starts at $22.44 million

The Minot City Council closed a public hearing Tuesday and passed the 2027 budget on its first reading, voting 6–1 with Alderman Samuelson recorded in dissent. The council approved a starting consolidated levy of $22,435,855 and authorized using just under $2.5 million from general-fund reserves as part of the budget package.

Council members and staff described the package as the result of more than 65 individual motions and adjustments in recent weeks. The city manager was authorized to design a voluntary separation incentive program (VSIP) to reduce staff levels and achieve ongoing savings; councilors asked finance staff to model the timeline and fiscal effect of the VSIP before final adoption.

Finance staff told the council the city's mill rate would be 83.3 mills in the proposed budget (compared with 78.6 in 2026 and 97.11 in 2025) and used median-home values to estimate taxpayer impact. The finance director said, “The median home value in 2025 was $229,000 … with the updated numbers that we have for 2026, that results in a total tax bill of $3,347 — an increase of about $45 per year for the median home.”

Several public commenters urged the council to avoid raising the tax burden on fixed-income residents and suggested alternatives such as selling or leasing unused city properties. Resident Patrick LeSier said small monthly increases can add up for households on fixed incomes. Daryl Francis of Service Basin Transportation warned that proposed caps on community-agency awards would create a substantial shortfall for his transit agency: he said he had applied for $485,000 and that a $250,000 cap would produce a roughly $235,000 deficit.

The council's adoption on first reading sets the budget to return for a second reading; members said they will refine VSIP modeling and other details before final passage.