Minneapolis City Council passes $1B budget

After a brief and non-contentious public hearing, the Minneapolis City Council approved the city's 2013 budget Wednesday evening at City Hall.

The budget is just over $1 billion and includes funding for new police officers, two more 911 operators and road repairs.

The budget includes nearly a 1.8 percent increase in the property tax levy. The majority of city homeowners will either see no increase or a decrease in property taxes next year, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said.

"I told people if we passed the stadium and Target Center deal, we could do more to hold the line on property taxes," Rybak said. "Part of the answer today is that 70 percent of the people are not getting a property tax increase this year."

Rybak said the levy increase is lower than in previous years because the Vikings stadium deal takes Target Center debt payments off the city's ledger.

In past years, the public comment portion of the annual budget adoption meeting stretched to well over an hour with dozens of agitated citizens complaining about soaring property taxes. This year, none of the five people who testified in front of the council mentioned taxes.

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