Duluth Mayor Larson Proposes 2024 Budget With 2% Levy Increase
DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth Mayor Emily Larson is calling her 2024 city budget proposal a “good news story” as she presented it to the Duluth City Council Monday evening.
“This budget is a good news story for workers, residents, taxpayers, and community,” says Mayor Larson. “It reflects the priorities we’ve been hearing from the community, honors the hard work of staff, and actually decreases what the average property owner will be paying next year for city services. My 2024 proposed budget is the result of the City’s prudent fiscal management and years of hard work building the relationships and lobbying the state legislature to secure additional resources.”
Larson says the combination of an additional $4.4-million dollars in state local government aid, a one-time investment from reserves, and using remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds would result a tax levy increase of 2%, a level that would reduce properly taxes next year when compared to this year.
“Securing the additional state LGA money is a gamechanger for Duluth,” says Mayor Larson. “It, along with years of sound fiscal management before, through, and coming out of the pandemic, has put us in a position to make these critical investments,” Larson said. “We made incredibly hard decisions the past several years as we worked through the pandemic. I am so proud of this budget, our staff, and this community. This budget is an important signal of our financial strength and our solid economy.
Parts of the budget proposal include $14-million to fund 18.4 miles of street repairs, funding an additional housing inspector and parks and librarian assistant, investing in parking ramp security and safety, and a one-time payment recognizing city workers.
The budget presentation is the first step in the process to approving the city’s 2024 budget. It must be completed by the end of the year with approval by the City Council.
