Barring any changes, the city of Ely will collect 6.54 percent more in property taxes next year than it did in 2025.
But at least one member of the city council is pressing for relief.
Earlier this week, council members voted 6-0, with Angela Campbell absent, to pass a preliminary 2026 levy that would jump by about $151,000.
But while he voted in the affirmative Tuesday, council member John Lahtonen said he wants city officials to sharpen their pencils and cut more spending to bring the levy down before final certification in December.
“This is the maximum increase,” Lahtonen said of the preliminary levy. “I personally would like to get it down to four percent. We have to find $60,000. We have to remember this is a very poor community (and) 70 percent of our budget comes from LGA. I believe we can find $60,000 to get this down to four percent.”
The levy hike passed this week is a maximum and can be lowered, but can not be raised, when it’s formally certified in December.
City officials have the next three months to make changes and reductions, if any.
At a meeting earlier this month, council members indicated a levy increase was in the works and what was approved this week was similar to what was presented then.
“There were a couple of small changes within department budgets,” said Langowski.
The levy funds part of a roughly $4.5 million general fund budget, although local government aid from the state of Minnesota is the largest single revenue component of general fund revenue.
After healthier increases several years ago, LGA funding has lagged, with clerk-treasurer Harold Langowski indicating this week that state aid for 2026 is essentially flat.
In addition to the general fund, money collected from the tax levy would be dedicated to capital projects ($680,000) followed by the library ($436,600), debt service ($304,200), equipment replacement ($200,000) and the cemetery ($24,000).
Council member Al Forsman noted that in some ways, the city budget remains a work in progress.
“This is our current best guess of where we are now,” said Forsman. “There are factors we don’t know yet, like the cost of health insurance and things like that. For us to try and make cuts without knowing those numbers, and hopefully before we set the final levy those numbers will all be final. We have to remember that if we keep things the way there are, this is where they would be.”
Mayor Heidi Omerza acknowledge the challenges of setting a city budget while keeping an eye on the impact to property owners. She cited budget committee discussions that took place the prior evening.
“I would like to thank Al and John and all of our department heads for all the work they do, and Dan (Smith), who’s our assistant treasurer,” said Omerza. “Last night was difficult. It will continue to get more difficult to talk about the numbers and were we can cut and continue to cut the budget but I appreciate the hard work people are putting in. Thank you for finding ways to lower our levy so we can save taxpayer money. I appreciate that. We are a low income community.”
The city levy climbed seven percent this year, and in 2024 it jumped by 2.99 percent.
The projected hike for 2026 comes amid action by St. Louis County to raise its proposed levy by just over 12 percent.
