Maple Grove Preliminary 2025 Budget Includes Deputy Police Chief Hire
Fall is a time for pumpkin lattes, apple picking and — at local city halls — poring over budgets.
Maple Grove is among the northwest suburbs to approve a preliminary budget. The Maple Grove City Council unanimously approved the 2025 proposed general fund levy and budget at its Sept. 16 meeting.
The city’s tax levy is proposed to go up 6.96 percent.
The budget calls for the hire of six new full-time employees, including the hire of a deputy police chief.
Four of the hires would be funded through the levy increase. They include the deputy police chief, an assistant HR director, an accountant and a code enforcement officer.
Two other proposed hires – an ice arena maintenance coordinator and a transit/transportation planner – would have no levy impact.
According to city council documents, the deputy police chief hire is necessary due to the “current workload faced by the senior leadership team.”
“The position is needed to meet department needs based on The Axtell Group’s research that found the Police Department’s senior leadership team is currently overwhelmed by daily operational tasks, leaving insufficient time for critical leadership functions,” showed the city documents.
Impact on Average Valued Home
For the average valued home of $433,500 in Maple Grove, it would be a city tax increase of about $70. This year, the increase was about $11.
Largely driving 2025 increases are cost-of-living adjustments and increases in health insurance costs.
According to city finance officials, Maple Grove’s levy increase is actually lower than average compared to cities of similar size. The average levy increase for comparable suburbs is 8.56 percent, said Greg Sticha, Maple Grove’s finance director.
“I think it’s important for the public to understand and know that in cities of similar size to us, we have the lowest taxes per capita,” said Maple Grove Mayor Mark Steffenson at Monday’s meeting. “I think that is something that we as a city should be proud of and I think it goes into the hard work we’ve done to try and keep our budgets under control over the years.”
Maple Grove set it’s truth in taxation hearing for Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Budget levy comparisons/courtesy Maple Grove Finance Department
