At a public forum last week, Babbitt residents posed thoughts and questions on the 2026 levy increase and its accompanying deliberative process.
Former council member Glenn Anderson questioned the reasoning for the 20 percent levy hike, placing the blame on previous years in which the levy “should have been raised” to compensate for increased expenses, such as a boost in employee salaries.
“At budget time when we sat down and looked at that and came up with what we did, it should have been raised. We argued to raise it, but no, it ended up being where it was,” Anderson said, “A lot of the council members argued on it, that it should be higher.”
Mayor Andrea Zupancich described the 2026 levy as “a corrective swing” necessary to make up for previous years in which the levy did not compensate for budgeted costs.
“It wasn’t just last year, but it was in 2013, 2014, 2020, where the levy didn’t equal what the budget increase was at all,” Zupancich said, “It’s not just one council. It’s not just one mayor.”
Zupancich says this is a necessary measure to fund essential services like police coverage and winter road maintenance.
“No one likes making the taxpayers pay more money,” Zupancich said, “I get it, but it’s a matter of prioritizing (what you want). At what point do we take away services and what’s the first service to go?”
Discussion also turned to the city’s administrative workflows and cohesion, following September’s budget discussions in which controversy erupted on social media over proposed cuts.
Shyann Cersine advocated for the “whole budgeting process to be ironed out” in order to improve collaboration between department heads and the council during budgeting meetings, “especially the private ones,” Cersine said.
Clerk-treasurer Nancy Sanford said she plans to smooth out the process by providing department leaders with clearer budget information prior to future deliberations.
“My vision going forward is that the tools, what will be given to the department heads to work on will be a format that is more intuitive and easier to work with, and it’s going to look more like what the normal average citizen and person on the street understands about budgets,” Sanford said.
Sanford also hopes to work more closely with each municipal division throughout the year.
“The other thing I want to do with my department heads starting in 2026 is meet with them every month so that we have a plan and we know where we are, budget to actuals. Where are their risks?” Sanford said.
Sanford believes this will help anticipate challenges like street maintenance costs or law enforcement equipment mandates that may arise, eventually informing end-of-year budget decisions.
“If we do a better job of levying an appropriate amount that covers the expenses and plans for our future, then we shouldn’t have to have these huge levies,” Sanford said.
