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Approximately half of a two hour North Branch city council meeting was devoted to considering a complaint alleging council member Kelly Neider has violated the council code of conduct.  

The complaint arose from Neider chastising a municipal liquor store employee in July 2023.  The employee felt Neider was abusing her position on the city council, based on remarks while shopping in the store.  A management level employee substantiated to city officials that the encounter came off like a threat and an abuse of power.

Neider told a cashier she was on the council, and complained about the price of an item and Neider added that she doesn’t understand why the item was more expensive than other liquor stores,  and if she was mayor she’d shut down both municipal liquor stores.

According to the Code of Conduct, council persons must not seemingly use their position for personal gain.

Neider was given all the time she wanted to address the three council members at last week’s hearing. Peter Schaps was absent.

Neider acknowledged that her comments to the store employee were misplaced and she added she should have taken her opinions to management.  She then utilized over 30 minutes to elaborate on her observations about the city’s two municipal liquor stores.

Mayor Kevin Scheiber reminded Neider the council has had several discussions about municipal liquor operations in recent months.  He stressed that the stores are not “losing money’ which Neider has repeatedly incorrectly declared.  The mayor said this is a “recurring theme” of hers, spewing non-fact based complaints.  Mayor Schieber said Neider keeps promising to bring data to a future meeting to back up her allegations and never has.

Neider responded that she has “trust issues'' with unnamed sources and that she doesn’t understand the financial information handed out.  Scheiber said that’s when you schedule time with someone at city hall to explain it to you, if need be.

According to comments by council member Robert Canada, the city recently named new management in the stores and it’s only been a little while in the wake of a retirement.  Council had openly discussed the store operations needing reasonable opportunity to show any improvements.

The mayor felt a censure was justified because this was not the first complaint the council received about Neider.  (She recently was the subject of another hearing for derogatory comments about a former council member.)  

Mayor Scheiber stated Neider has demonstrated a “pattern” in her eagerness to spread disinformation, ignore factual evidence and he said he can’t trust what she’s saying and doing in her committee assignments.

On top of the complaint action based on the liquor store confrontation; Mayor Schieber also asked council to support removing Neider from liaison seats on North Branch’s Parks, Trails and Open Space, and Negotiations committees.  

Council unanimously voted for the censure resolution (which will be presented later with final wording) and to delete her appointments for the rest of 2023 until new assignments are made in January 2024. 

This hearing preceded the council’s regular session where business included:

~ A final look at the 2024 levy and budget— which will be adopted at the September 26 council meeting.  

The tax rate is projected to increase to 41 percent from 37.6 currently, which staff recommends due to market valuation growth in North Branch bringing in more revenue even with a flat line budget. 

The mayor said the city  budgets have been “kept pretty skinny” in the recent past and North Branch has unmet deferred needs. “But we have to be careful about it (setting an increase).”

The finance director estimates if the maximum scenario for the budget and levy is finalized, on a median-price home of $317,000 the 2024 property tax— for the city only— would go up from $1,104 to $1,317.

~ The annexation contract for parcels that came in from the north edge of Lent Township was corrected due to a clerical error.  Property tax is being phased in and incoming township parcels will pay their township rate of tax plus a percentage of the difference between this and the city’s urban property tax. First payment is 20 percent, then 40, then 60 and then 80 percent before the parcels are up to the standard city tax.

State boundary officials approved the orderly annexation of  Lent Township into Stacy as of December 29. (Press story September 7)

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