By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Henning City Council met for the first of what could be a handful of special meetings on Monday, Sept. 22 as it looks to potentially lower the city’s 2026 preliminary tax levy.

At its Monday, Sept. 8 regularly scheduled city council meeting, the Henning City Council approved a 15 percent increase in its 2026 preliminary tax levy. The preliminary tax levy comes on the heels of back-to-back years in which the city has adopted a 20 percent increase in its tax levy. 

The recent increases in Henning’s tax levy led to former mayor and city councilman Richard O. Johnson to speak at the special meeting about the impact the increase in taxes has had on the senior citizens in the community, as well as against a proposal brought by Apex Engineering to explore implementing assessments for future projects in the community. Johnson said such dramatic increases in taxes, in addition to if the city were to implement assessments down the road, could cause senior citizens and low income families to no longer be able to afford to live in Henning. 

Johnson asked the council to make sure the city, as well as its residents, can afford to complete a number of the projects that Apex Engineering put forth at the beginning of the special city council meeting before it proceeds with the projects. 

The projects Johnson was alluding to concerns an estimated $8.93 million sanitary sewer and water project to replace aging utilities project that was not previously been replaced, as well as a $2.5-4.1 million surface project to replace roads that are in need of repair in the community. 

Sam Rupert, of Apex Engineering, said the city may be eligible for a grant for up to 73 percent of the $8.93 million project and a low interest loan for 18 percent of that same project. Due to uncertainty in future state funding, Rupert recommended that the city council move forward with the project if it is approved for funding.

“Everything that we have been told from PFA and your (city staff) has been told this from your representatives is there is no guarantees in future years what is out there,” said Rupert. “If money becomes available to you it is highly recommended you take it now because there is no guarantee what will happen in the future.”

In order to help pay for the road project, the city will also apply for special funding from the state to help offset a portion of that project. It had previously approved making repairs to several of the roads that could be included in the project, but will hold off on making the repairs until the city finds out if it is approved for state funding. 

In addition to the proposed projects, Rupert and Bob Schliemann, of Apex Engineering, once again brought up the idea of adopting an assessment ordinance in the community. Unlike a number of communities in the region, the City of Henning has never approved assessments that are put on the taxes of affected properties for street and utility projects. Instead, Henning has paid for utility and road projects through increased utility rates and taxes that is spread throughout the entire community, as opposed to putting special taxes on individual property owners that could range from a few thousand dollars to $25,000 or more. 

Assessments could be paid off over the course of several years, which are set by the city council, but would ultimately need to be paid by an affected property owner. For example, if a road and utility project went in front of an affected property, the property owner would be responsible for a predetermined percentage of the project based on their footage to the property. The remaining amount of the project would be spread out to the entire community. 

Rupert, Schliemann and utility supervisor Ted Strand said assessments could provide another revenue stream for the city to pay for projects. 

Henning Mayor Jesse Hermanson said he didn’t think the community was ready to go with assessments at this time, but also didn’t think it would be a bad idea to look into them as well. 

City councilwoman Jessica Strege said one of the challenges the city has wrestled with in the past concerning special assessments was where it should start and stop. For example, all previous road and utility projects have been paid by the entire community through an increase in taxes and utility rates. If the city were to adopt special assessments, affected property owners would not only be responsible for past projects, but also a significantly larger portion of new projects as well through no fault of their own except for when the city decided to complete the project in front of their property. 

She also agreed with the points Johnson made earlier in the meeting about the affect taxes and the cost of goods has had on seniors.

“It is getting to be a struggle just beyond skipping eating out or things of those nature and I do have genuine concern for people in this community,” said Strege who used her struggles as a single income parent as an example. “If we do another 15 percent increase, what is that going to do at the grocery store because it’s not just people seeing this increase, it’s on their groceries (too).”

When asked by the city council if it needed to have a balanced budget going into 2026, or whether it could spend down some of its reserves to keep the proposed tax levy lower, city clerk/treasurer Jenna Kovarik said the city does not need to have a balanced budget and could spend down some of its reserves next year. 

Throughout the budget portion of the special city council meeting, the city council said it would like to have staff members look at ways to lower their budgets and save money heading into next year. The council said it will schedule additional special meetings to work on the budget as needed before the end of the year.

In addition to the budget and presentation from Apex Engineering, the city council accepted the resignation of Rebecca Lee as utility billing secretary. The resignation was effective Sept. 30, but at the end of the meeting Lee reportedly turned in her keys to the city council.