Austin City Council approves proposed tax levy and budget for 2023 at Monday meeting

The Austin City Council moved on a vote of 6-1 to adopt the city’s proposed tax levy and budget for 2023 at their regularly scheduled meeting Monday evening.  The city’s tax levy for 2023 will total $8,283,000, or a 4.32% increase from 2022, and Administrative Services Director Tom Dankert stated to the council that 1% of that total will be paid for by new development in the community.  The city’s budget for 2023 will total $39,812,437, as tax levies and budgets for cities and counties around the state need to be set by September 30th.  After that date, the levy can be lowered, but not raised until the city’s final budget and tax levy are approved by the council at their final meeting for 2022 on December 19th.  The city’s budget and tax levy for 2023 will be presented and discussed at the city’s Truth in Taxation hearing, which will be held on Wednesday, December 7th.  The city’s proposed tax levy and budget for 2023 were approved on a vote of 6-1, with councilman Paul Fischer casting the lone dissenting vote.

In other business, the Austin City Council approved an amended sidewalk cafe ordinance that removes the food requirement from the ordinance, and the council also approved changes to the city’s liquor ordinances, including modifying two subdivisions in the city code to conform with recent Minnesota state law changes which allow baseball teams or managers of baseball stadiums to hold on-sale wine licenses, and also to allow Sunday on-sale license holders to serve at 8:00 a.m.  The council also unanimously approved a change in a third ordinance at Monday evening’s meeting to allow for liquor sales at Packer Arena.  In other business, the council moved to authorize $47,600 of 2022 contingency funds to go toward pool repairs, and also to reallocate 2022 capital improvement funds to fund a comprehensive security camera monitoring system at the outdoor pool for an estimated cost of $16,500.

In other business at Monday evening’s meeting, the Austin City Council approved a contract between the city and the Austin Bruins for their usage of Riverside Arena for 2022 to 2023, and they also moved to provide municipal consent to MnDOT for the I-90 Austin Bridges Improvement Project, and the council also approved a pair of MnDOT airport grants, one for a taxiway joint repair project, and the other for a taxi lane project.

The next regularly scheduled meeting for the Austin City Council is scheduled for Monday, October 3rd.