Nancy Edmonds Hanson
hansonnanc@gmail.com

Construction has only just begun on the first half of Moorhead’s long-awaited solution to train crossings and traffic tie-ups … but engineers have been given the green light to begin technical research and planning for the rest of the dream.
The rest of the plan to eliminate delays through the city’s central corridor – a second underpass about a mile west of the current 20-21st Street project – was given the green light Monday when the Moorhead City Council approved an agreement to split the cost of preliminary engineering with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The three-year project, estimated to total $900,000, will be shared equally between city and state. Located where 11th Street intersects Highway 10, better known locally as Center Avenue, it will route drivers beneath BNSF Railway’s Prosper and KO lines.
City Engineer Bob Zimmerman explained the development work is being spread over three years to accommodate the availability of funding. Construction will not begin until well after completion of the current project in 2020 or 2021. In the meantime, city advocates will work with the Minnesota Legislature to secure construction funds and look at options for the city. Council member Mari Dailey urged that a citywide assessment, rather than a special assessment district, continue to be explored as part of the local funding alternative.
“We’ve been selling these two underpasses as a package ever since I’ve been here,” Mayor Del Rae Williams pointed out. “The Legislature has always been aware of the whole plan, and that 20-21st is only one half of it.”
Ceiling established for 2019 budget, taxes
The council went on to give its approval to the proposed 2019 city budget and proposed 2018 city tax levy to be paid next year.
The proposed tax levy, which establishes the maximum that can be approved before year’s end, totals $14.8 million, an increase of $1.1 million over the present level. It would result in a boost of 3.4 percent to property taxes, raising the bill for the average home – with a median value of $180,000– by about $23 per year.
According to Finance Manager Wanda Wagner, the increase is largely due to rising health insurance premiums for city workers, along with implementation of the city’s recent class and compensation study and improvements to a variety of city infrastructure. Meanwhile, LGA revenue – local government aid, which comes from the state – is projected to remain static for the coming year. “When LGA is stagnant or going down, unfortunately, property taxes have to fill that gap,” the mayor said.
While Monday’s action set a budgetary ceiling, council member Steve Gehrtz urged staff and colleagues seek ways in the meantime to decrease the total. “I want to see us keep on applying downward pressure to try to get it down,” he said.
However, the numbers are still preliminary. As the law requires, the city will host a truth-in-taxation meeting for public comment at 6 p.m. Nov. 26 in City Hall before the council takes a final vote on the budget and levy in December.