Minneapolis City Council — Transcript
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Bond Proceeds Reallocation for Public Works Project Closeouts
Bond Proceeds Reallocation for Water Project Tax Credits
Future Issuance of Tax-Exempt General Obligation Bonds
City's Quarter 3 Financial Report and Fund Balances
Votes (4)
Bond Proceeds Reallocation Resolution (Unfinished Business)
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [7:21] · Seconded by Unknown [7:23]
This resolution, carried over from December, involved reallocating bond proceeds related to Public Works project closeouts. President Brandt voiced strong disapproval regarding projects being cancelled or altered after bonds are sold, leading to the city paying interest on unspent funds, and specifically mentioned negative impacts on protected bike lane projects. Public Works had submitted a written response to prior questions.
Bond Proceeds Reallocation Resolution (Water Projects)
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [10:59] · Seconded by Unknown [11:00]
David Wheeler presented a resolution to reallocate over $2 million in bond proceeds from Water Project 35 to Water Distribution Improvement Project 12. This was necessitated by Water Project 35 qualifying for tax credits, which required the project to be funded by water revenues rather than bond proceeds to comply with IRS regulations. The reallocation ensures proper utilization of funds and regulatory compliance.
Issuance of Tax-Exempt General Obligation Bonds (Future Consideration)
Dissent: N/A (no vote taken)
Moved by N/A · Seconded by N/A
This item was a transmittal for information regarding the future issuance of tax-exempt general obligation bonds for an assessment related to building two blocks of parkway at the Upper Harbor Terminal. President Brandt questioned the implications of assessing 'themselves' given that the adjacent land is owned by CPAD and the Parkboard. The item was received and filed for future action.
City Controller's Quarter 3 Financial Report
Dissent: N/A
Moved by N/A · Seconded by N/A
City Controller George Hardgrove and Deputy Controller Robert Lang presented the Quarter 3 financial report, detailing the city's financial health as of September 30, 2025. Key points included a significant spend-down of the general fund, property tax revenues coming in under budget, and over-budget expenditures in public safety (Police and Fire) and Public Works (due to snow emergencies). The report also covered the status of special revenue, internal service, and enterprise funds, noting concerns about the general fund's shrinking margin above its minimum balance requirement, leading to a halt on 2025 rollover requests for general fund projects. The meeting adjourned due to loss of quorum during this presentation, but the discussion continued informally.
Notable Quotes (7)
I'm somewhat shagrined that when the council votes on a bonding resolution or bonding authorization, I should say in December of one year with the construction season just four months ahead that public works doesn't alert people ahead of time when a project is uh going to be pulled.
I hate to take money away from um a protected bike lane and I'll leave it at that. But I'm hoping in the future we can have more care exercised in what departments request be sold for bonds.
the water project uh was revealed that there are it qualified for tax credits. Um however the project needs to be paid from water revenues itself and can't use bond proceeds in order to utilize those tax credits. Uh so in order to spend these bond proceeds we do have uh the best course of action here is to reallocate these proceeds...
The only question I had was when I looked at the uh county property lookup, I noted that the land on one side of this parkway is now listed as CPAD land and the land on the other side is listed as uh parkboard land. And do we essentially assess ourselves in that circumstance?
So we continue to to spend down on the on the general fund in particular but a few of the other funds as well too. [...] property taxes are 17 we at the time were projected to be 17.4 million under budget. [...] Police and fire combined are uh were projected to be about 25 million over budget.
Historically, the 3-year average was 92% expenditures of what we budgeted having about an 8% savings. In 2025, we're seeing 97% of what was budgeted to be expended. Now, probably a 98% as we close out the year. Um again that that impact is is crunching um the 17% minimum fund balance requirement...
I will say the if you look at the third bullet point about the rollovers um we uh as of right now um we have uh you'll ask the departments not to submit any rollover requests for the general fund um which would mean that they'd have to use their 2026 budget to complete anything from the 2025 budget or so.
Ordinances & Resolutions (4)
Bond proceeds reallocation resolution for water projects
Financial report presented by the City Controller as of September 30, 2025
Future audited financial report where final numbers will be published
City system for public access to legislative information