Clearwater City residents may be looking at a levy increase of more than eight percent for 2020.

During a budget discussion Monday, Administrator Kevin Kress said there haven’t been any reductions to the preliminary levy that was set in September.

At that meeting, the council approved a preliminary levy of $1,162,504, which represents an 8.4% increase over the 2019 levy of $1,071,664.

Key items that led to the increase were a jump in the fire levy from $92,162 to $165,607, although part of that levy will be covered under contracts with Clearwater and Lynden townships.

Another $56,827 was included in the levy to cover debt service payments for the Southeast Area Street Improvement project.

The budget also includes a jump in the police protection contract with Wright County. The levy is set at $312,180 compared to $223,800 in 2019. That number covers both a per-hour increase and an increase in coverage from eight to 12 hours a day.

Monday, the council discussed not increasing hourly coverage, which would lower the police levy. But they may still decide to keep all or part of the levy increase intact and allocate the funds to other areas of the budget.

The council will have further discussion at a budget workshop set for Dec. 2. The final budget and levy is due in December. It can be lowered but not increased from the preliminary levy set in September.

Wage Increases

After a 15-minute discussion, the council voted 4-1 to approve two-step wage increases for Nick Schmidt and Abe Knowles of the maintenance department.

Members of the council discussed the city’s policy for awarding wage increases.

Administrator Kress said the decision to increase both staff members by two wage steps to $19.52 per hour was made after discussion about the employees’ performance between Kress and Public Works Supervisor John Schmidt. He said both employees performed above expectations in their first year and could have started at a higher wage when they were hired.

Kress said members of the council typically wouldn’t know about the performance of the employees well enough to make that determination. 

Councilman Vern Scott said he would like to know more about the wage step scale and how decisions were made. 

Members of the council agreed doing further research on the policy shouldn’t affect the  increases for the two employees.

Councilman Richard Petty suggested giving both employees a one-step increase instead of two until there was more discussion about the policy. But the council voted, 4-1 to award a two-step increase, with Petty voting against. The council will have a discussion on the wage step process at a future meeting.

Other Business

In other action the council:

* Approved a temporary On-Sale Liquor License for St. Luke’s Church to allow an alcoholic drink with the purchase of a dinner ticket for a Feb. 15 event.