Proposed budget to add six police officers to St. Cloud department

ST. CLOUD — Six additional police officers will join St. Cloud Police Department next year if Mayor Dave Kleis' proposed 2023 budget is approved this fall.

The preliminary budget, which Kleis unveiled at Monday night's St. Cloud City Council meeting, includes a public safety budget of $39.7 million, up about 6% over this year's budget. The infusion of public safety dollars is a continuation from last year, when the budget grew by about 8% and added four police officers to the ranks.

If the proposed budget is approved, the city's police spending will have nearly doubled from a decade ago. Kleis attributes the need for additional resources and officers to growth in the city, as well as its nature as a regional center where the city's population of 69,000 swells to 180,000 during the daytime.

"It's still been a challenge but our folks have been really good at recruitment," Kleis said, referring to the statewide and nationwide shortage of officers that's hampered hiring for many law enforcement agencies. "In the 17 years I've been mayor ... I think this is some of the highest morale we've had in the department."

The preliminary budget includes $82.2 million in governmental funds, an increase of 4% from the 2022 budget. During the pandemic, the city slashed the 2021 budget by more than $2 million to account for income loss. The 2022 budget rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. And the proposed 2023 budget accounts for a hefty 17% growth in the city's tax base due to new businesses and increased property values.

The double-digit tax base growth hasn't been seen in more than a decade. The last time the growth neared double digits was 2006, when the tax base grew by 9.2%. The city then saw a steady decline during the Great Recession with tax growth bottoming out -5.2% in 2013. Last year, the tax base growth was just under 3%.

Inflation is also driving increased spending.

"Our fuel alone more than doubled from where we projected and where we were last year," Kleis said. "We're seeing some declines now but we've got a lot of diesel in those snowplows and those road vehicles that are out there. We budgeted more this year but it went beyond what I think anybody expected it to be."

The preliminary budget also includes a 10% increase to the parks, recreation and library budget and a 9% increase to the information technology budget.

About 43% of the city's governmental funds budget comes from property taxes and about 17% from local government aid approved by the Legislature. Kleis is proposing a 2023 tax levy of $35.3 million, an increase of about $5 million over this year's levy.

But even with that proposed levy bump, residents likely won't see an increase in city taxes unless their property values go up. The increase in the levy mirrors the growth in taxable property the city has seen, Kleis said.

The council is expected to vote on the preliminary budget and levy in September and the final budget in December.