2025 Budget & Tax Levy
Highlights of the Proposed 2025 Budget
The City is considering a $206 million budget for 2025. This budget includes the proposed $61.5 million tax levy, which is up 13.14% from 2024.
The City has heard from residents their desire for an expansion of public safety services and to maintain high levels of City services. Of the 13.14% increase, 5.46% is for investment in public safety. The other 7.68% will cover Citywide operating costs, fund projects in the Capital Improvement Plan, support the Street Special Levy, and update zoning ordinances.
Public Safety
• Planning for the first debt payment on the highly anticipated new Fire Station 2 at 4401 W. 76th St., scheduled to open in the winter of 2025
• Adding six Paramedic/Firefighters to the Edina Fire Department to staff the new Fire Station 2
• Adding three new Police Officers to ensure public safety, enforce laws, investigate crimes
and better respond to mental health crises
• Adding one Facility Coordinator within the Parks & Recreation Department to improve safety and better respond to social disruption events in recreation enterprises
General
• Covering rising operating costs in areas such as employee pay and benefits, energy, risk management, technology, equipment and
vehicle expenses
• Continued commitment to maintaining high-quality City services that set Edina apart, like park maintenance, street repair, snow plowing, environmental protection, community engagement, assessing, communications, fleet maintenance, street sweeping and more
• Improving accessibility and inclusivity at City facilities by adding automatic doors, EV charging stations at handicapped parking spots, gender-neutral bathrooms and ADA improvements
• Gradually increasing the Street Special Levy as scheduled, which continues the transition of street reconstruction funding from special assessments to property taxes by 2036
• Designated funding for zoning ordinance updates as part of the City’s Comprehensive Plan update
Provide comments here.
Provide Public Input
CLOSED: This discussion has concluded. The budget will be considered at the City Council meeting on December 3, 2024.
Public Participation Level
Who's Listening
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Email sneal@EdinaMN.gov -
Finance Director
Email PThao@EdinaMN.gov
We have had more than 10 years of tax levy increases (~10% for the last three years) significantly above the rate of inflation; at rates beyond those of other west suburb cities. Can the city provide justification for this and explain why other west suburb cities are able to continue with much lower increases than Edina? What is being done at Edina to find efficiencies and lower costs in city operations? Thanks for your insights.
Dear Council Members, Scott Neal, Pa Than and other city staff.
I have been made aware from members of the EEC (Energy and Environment Commission) that funding to promote and implement the Edina Climate Action Plan (CAP) are inadequate to move the plan ahead to meet the city goals of 45% reduction in GHG (Greenhouse Gases) by 2030.
The plan is solid but it's only as good the our commitment to make the actions tangible for residents, businesses and organizations in Edina.
The world has just completed another totally inadequate COP 29 UN Climate conference, the wealthy countries of the world refuse to meet the requested funds necessary to meet the goals of the Paris agreement that Mindy and I attended in 2015. Edina can do better.
As council member Kate Agnew stated in a council meeting in 2023 "we are in a climate emergency". We spent a lot of money and staff time to develop the CAP, you've hired hired 3 staff people (Marissa Bayer, Mathew Gabb and Twila Singh) and have had a number of Green Corps members to support staff efforts.
This year at our Morningside Earth Day Celebration (April 27 at Weber Park for your calendars) we are working with your staff to make the CAP understandable and accessible with simple actions in all of the 8 major areas of action.
I'm asking the council to fully fund the requests made by the sustainability staff and the EEC and to make 2025 the year Edina's CAP takes off and Edina operations, neighborhoods and school systems get everyone talking about solutions, actions and working together to align the CAP's vision with the urgent reality of building a truly sustainable future for Edina and our state.
I hope my message is not too late to impact your budgetary decisions. I love living in Edina, I want to be proud of my city's commitment to a livable future for the students and families I live and work with.
Paul Thompson
paul@coolplanetmn.org
612-810-4664
My name is Russell Fystrom. 5250 Grandview Square, unit 2103. First thing I'd like to say is that I have no understanding of why you would put the meeting on the same day that Hennepin County has their meeting. It doesn't seem like it's very open or transparent government and action when they put important meetings for restaurants on the same day. So, first of all. I'd like to know who made those decisions and the second thing is the market value of my condominium has gone at $45,000 this year. You tell me in your newsletter that the increase of a medium valued home of $712,000 dollars will increase $24 dollars a month. My increase on my taxes is $1,059 dollars. I pay $88.25 a month so please get your data more accurate than telling us it is only $24 a month because it’s not. It’s $88.25 a month. I would like to know how TIF affects the amount of taxes that I pay and I’m not quite understanding why I continually (I bought my condo 4 years ago) see it going up from the price I paid at $517,000 and it’s gone up to $610,000. That equates to $1,000 more in my taxes. We have had high inflation in the last few years that is destroying people’s income. My income certainly hasn’t kept stayed up with the cost of living. You, the government, needs to take a little cut as well. The people can’t continue to do this. At this rate, my little condominium is going to be paying taxes at $1,000,000 a year if you keep increasing it every year in the amount that you do. Thank you for your time. (Voicemail transcribed by City Staff. Received 11/15/24 at 9:19am)
Hi, I just got the proposed increase in or property tax changes and I see that you are increasing by 13%. I want people fired. I want you to reduce by 13%. Not increase by 13. ridiculous. Absolutely. Ridiculous. (Transcribed by City Staff. Anonymous voicemail received 11/20/24 at 2:00 pm)
Removed by moderator.
At the end of 2021 the City Council approved Edina’s first Climate Action Plan (CAP). The plan includes more than 200 actions to be taken not only by the city but also by the community to reduce the GHG emission by 45% below 2019 levels by 2030.
Although a consider amount of the actions need to be taken by the community, the city needs to build the necessary internal capacity to help in the implementation of those actions. That is the first cross-cutting strategy of the CAP (CC1).
For the last 3 years, as a member of the Energy and Environment Commission, I have seen initiatives linked to actions in the CAP, being reject or not even consider by city staff for their implementation due to the lack of human and budgeting resources. Although action CC1-5 of the CAP establish clearly that the city must “Fund and support sustainability staffing required to support the implementation of this Climate Action Plan (see Implementation Matrix for example staff needs)”.
Since the CAP was approved, it hasn’t played the key role it has in planning city budget. And once again the 2025 Budget, lacks a concrete line that support the implementation of climate actions. State and federal money is available that can help city in the CAP implementation process, however the city needs to use the CAP as a planning instrument and assign the necessary budget to help achieve the reduction the City Council committed to achieve by approving such a plan.