The St. Francis City Council approved a 2026 budget and levy increase on a narrow 3–2 vote following a lengthy Truth in Taxation hearing Dec. 1. Mayor Mark Vogel and Council Member Amy Faanes cast the two dissenting votes.
Finance Director Darcy Mulvihill presented the city’s budget and levy, outlining the goals of maintaining high-quality and cost-effective public services, addressing council priorities and preserving a strong fiscal position.
Mulvihill said the city’s preliminary levy of $7,180,000 includes a fiscal disparities deduction of $1,169,310, resulting in a spreadable levy of $6,010,690. With adjustments to the city’s 2025 tax capacity, St. Francis’ adjusted tax capacity for 2026 is $10,142,316. Dividing the spreadable levy by the adjusted tax capacity produces a proposed 2026 tax rate of 59.263%, she said.
Based on charts shared at the meeting, the median-valued home in St. Francis — $321,300 — will see a city tax increase of $162.91.
The total general levy of $6,080,000 marks a 16.09% increase from $5,085,000 in 2025. Mulvihill said the biggest drivers include $300,000 in stormwater expenses being added to the levy for 2026; a $50,000 tax abatement for the Vista Prairie development; $1.1 million in unpaid capital improvement debt dating back to 2017; and increases tied to general operating, parks and building and storm improvements.
The levy has more than doubled since 2017, when it was $3,244,573.
Within the 2026 budget, $4,656,400 is expected to come from property taxes, up from $3,891,400 in 2025 — nearly three-quarters of the city’s revenue. Local Government Aid to St. Francis has also increased, from $356,255 in 2016 to $648,100 in 2026.
Total 2026 expenditures are budgeted at $6,568,250. Public safety accounts for the largest share at $3,381,400, followed by $1,354,800 for general government.
Dozens of residents spoke against the levy hike, many urging the council to cut spending. Several said they worried about affording basic needs.
Pete DuBois, said his taxes rose 15% while his home value increased 4%, calling tax capacity calculations a “numbers game.”
Another resident, Tina Carroll, asked how St. Francis compared with other cities.
Mulvihill said the increase was “quite a bit higher” than many peers, noting that Lino Lakes is rising 16.22%, though the rolling in of stormwater fees places St. Francis closer to an 11% increase.
“I mean, have you seen the lines at that food shelf over here every single week?” Carroll said.
Other residents said their property taxes had risen between 20% and 21% in a year.
One speaker asked how the city planned to prevent similar increases in future years. Vogel said there was no plan yet.
Resident Mike Roger commended the city’s transparency but said rising costs and future bonding needs — including for Highway 47 — meant the city needed to create more revenue.
“What are we going to do next year when we’ve got another bond for (Highway) 47?” Roger said. “You’re going to come back and ask these guys for another 15%?”
Roger also criticized the school district’s tax impact. Another resident, Mike Powell, said Vista Prairie residents were the only ones unaffected.
“We’re giving them $2 million in taxes. All ours goes up,” Powell said.
Powell also expressed concern that growth was happening without corresponding business development.
“You’re building all this stuff on the growth that’s never coming,” he said.
Faanes said that while families must cut back as costs rise, the city was not doing the same.
“I agree with everything that was said here tonight,” Faanes said. “I think that we—I’ll include myself…we spent money like it wasn’t ours and it was water.”
Council Member Joe Muehlbauer said the city needed to fund essential services.
“We have to have streets plowed. We have to have police and fire,” Muehlbauer said. “(And) mowing the parks.”
He said inflation and mandated stormwater requirements contributed significantly.
Council Member Kevin Robinson said the budget conversation was the product of nine months of work.
“We could go line by line…we could do something like that,” Robinson said. “But again, there’ll be some outcries for some services like Joe said, police, fire, and the general levy.”
Robinson added that Vogel had encouraged staff to find “little 1% cuts across the board,” such as delaying tire purchases.
Council Member Sarah Udvig said the council discussed multiple ways to cut the budget, but doing so would shift problems to future years.
“If that’s truly what you’re asking us to do…we can cut fire, we can cut police, we can cut parks,” Udvig said. “But really, in all reality, all that’s doing is pushing it off.”
She also raised concerns about emergency response times, saying the city had allowed the fire department to take medical calls because ambulance services were too far away.
Vogel closed by criticizing the property tax system.
“I hate property taxes—you fix your place up, and they’re going to penalize you,” Vogel said. He said the 11% needed to maintain existing services effectively pushed the burden onto residents.
“We’re not gonna share the pain,” Vogel said. “And I think that’s wrong.”