St. Cloud Mayor Unveils $81.7 Million Budget

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson has laid out his preliminary budget and tax levy for 2027.

Anderson noted this is just an early budget proposal, and the city staff plans to make changes due to several unknown variables, including the pending sale of the former Media Services property, which has not been finalized yet.

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After Monday night's presentation, the St. Cloud City Council has approved a public hearing on the Preliminary Tax Levy and General Fund Budget for August 31st.

The final budget has to be approved by the end of December.  The final levy can go down, but it cannot go up.

Anderson's 2027 budget includes a tax rate increase of 3.75 percent and a 2027 voter-approved fire referendum increase of 2.69 percent for a total increase of 6.44 percent. The proposed levy increase is 7.9 percent, a fire referendum increase of 4.0 percent, for a total levy increase of 11.9 percent.

What that means for a median-priced home valued at $252,700 is an annual increase of $146, with 41 percent of that increase being the voter-approved fire referendum. The monthly tax increase impact is $12.17 on a median-priced home.

Anderson says the proposed tax increase is less than the $330 increase that occurred in 2026.

Anderson's budget includes the hiring of two new full-time employees, including a Facilities Director and a GIS Specialist.  Also hiring four new part-time employees, including a Communications Specialist, Animal Control Technician Assistant, Building Maintenance Technician, and Facilities Attendant. The city is also expected to add 17 new full-time firefighters in 2027 as the new Fire Station 6 gets up and running.

The proposed total budget for the city of St. Cloud is $81.7 million, with about $67.7 million of that going to personnel.

Sixty-six-percent of the city's revenue comes from property taxes.  The property tax revenue is broken down into 66 percent residential, 20 percent commercial, and 14 percent apartments.

Anderson points out that the challenges in creating the budget include increasing personnel costs, modest growth in property values, Local Government Aid increasing by just 0.41 percent, deferred maintenance of building facilities and equipment, and no more one-time federal funds.