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North Branch City Council was unanimous in its support commissioning a study looking at implementing a Local Option Sales Tax.  The cities in Minnesota can get permission for a half of one cent sales tax, that doesn’t go to the state,  on items sold in the jurisdiction.  Mayor Kevin Schieber remarked last week that “additional revenue is key” to meeting some of North Branch’s needs and a local option sales tax (LOST)  “would be a nice bump.”

The council voted to have University of Minnesota Extension do the analysis and it should be complete in six to eight weeks, it was announced.

The study will look at sales and tax data from North Branch and estimate amounts of revenues that might come from visitors or people just stopping at a gas station or a fast food outlet...and how much residents contribute.  The mayor added that the ability to spread the collection of tax revenue across transient consumers and locals,  “takes some of the pressure off” of just relying on local property owners for revenue.

The analysis is $3,000 and the results will be fully reviewed and citizen input will be solicited before the LOST can be implemented.

Meanwhile, the council continues to look at extending the mayor’s term from two to four years.  The earliest the process could impact an election wouldn’t be until 2028.  

Talk of doubling the term began as an agenda item last month.  Discussion last week was about primary requirements to narrow down any crowded candidate fields and costs of running elections outside of the general (November) regular balloting schedules.

Council approved a new animal control service for the city contract. The former business no longer has a conditional use permit for its location.

Michelle Russell in Ogilvie, doing business as Isanti County Animal Control, was awarded the contract for a year.  Base  retainer is $400 per month and pickup per animal is $100.  Mileage is also added.   There were only two nearby kennels identified who could provide the services North Branch was seeking. The second option, Companion Animal Care & Control,  appeared to be more costly.

Early budget review began for the 2026 levy.  The statistics given to council show an ad valorem property tax of $6,960,221 being proposed as something to work from.  The same property tax for 2025 was $6,222, 315.

Finance Director Sharon Wright said staff is awaiting the market valuation (capacity) numbers from Chisago County in order to have an important piece of the formula.

The budget needs to be set at a maximum estimate by September for preliminary tax statements to be created.  The final levy and budget get adopted in December.

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