Minneapolis budget: Police double-time pay eliminated, 7.8% tax increase expected

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A proposed 2026 budget for the City of Minneapolis would end "double-time" overtime pay for the city's police in an effort to trim expenses, and keep property taxes lowered, going forward.

Minneapolis 2026 budget

What we know:

Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers can currently receive double-time pay for extended shifts, such as working at bar close.

Last year, MPD spent a record $28 million on overtime — $12 million over its allotted budget at the time.

As part of his proposal, Frey highlights cuts the city has previously made to bring down its property tax levy — including eliminating vacant positions, programs and cost-saving initiatives, while also promoting investments in "core priorities" such as "public safety, affordable housing, climate, economic inclusion, and good governance."

"This is a unique budget and the City did everything possible to get the levy as low as possible, while also keeping staff and core City services going," Frey said in a statement prior to the address. "Double overtime was a response to a staffing crisis at MPD. Now that the department is growing, with more officers on the street than we’ve seen in years, we can afford to return to normal overtime."

As a result, Frey proposes not renewing the city's Critical Staffing Overtime policy that enables, while keeping its standard overtime rate of "time-and-a-half."

Saying his first and most important task was reducing a tax levy increase on property owners, Frey said on Wednesday that with no action an increase would have topped 13% — a level he deemed "unacceptable."

Ending double time will save the city about $3.64 million a year, according to the mayor’s office.

Frey's current proposal would still place a taxy levy increase of 7.8% on property owners.

"Some things are cliché because they are true — budgets show how we prioritize. Sometimes it means not chasing every new idea, but investing in things that we know already work," Frey said during his address on Wednesday. "This budget didn’t happen in a vacuum. Over the last several months, our city departments and budget team rolled up their sleeves, and went through their budgets line by line. They evaluated every program, every vacancy and every dollar spent. They used data to come forward with real solutions to close our gap without breaking the services that residents rely on."

In the last year, Minneapolis City Council members have sought ways to implement a fee to "recoup the cost of wear-and-tear on city vehicles and other city resources while being used by officers for personal profit," such as overtime shifts.

Double-time compensation is a part of the current police union contract, which expires at the end of the year.

Other adjustments in the city’s budget under Frey’s proposal include:

• Reducing Open Streets events from four to three
• Sunsetting vacant positions that were no longer critical to operations
• Shifting funding from "untested new initiatives" to "ones we know work"
• Scaling pilot programs
• Bracing for federal funding uncertainty

New sources of revenue could include adding credit card processing fees to city services billing.

"This was not an easy budget year, but it’s also not a crisis budget — this is a disciplined budget," Frey said on Wednesday.

MPD staffing levels

Dig deeper:

Prior to the death of George Floyd in May 2020, the MPD had roughly 900 sworn officers, but saw that number dwindle to 560 as recently as 2024.

In 2023, the council approved incentives of up to $18,000 per eligible peace officer who stays employed with the MPD for at least three years.

But city officials say levels have since rebounded in the state's largest city, with 614 sworn-in officers and recruits.

According to the mayor's office, MPD is "currently staffed at the highest levels in years, reducing the need for costly double overtime pay shifts."

Under the Minneapolis City Charter, the city has a legal duty to employ 17 sworn peace officers per every 10,000 Minneapolis residents.

"We are finally seeing positive momentum as we rebuild the ranks of our depleted force, but we know there is still more work ahead. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and we remain committed to providing the same high level of service our community expects and deserves while finding ways to support our officers in the tough job they do every day," said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara in a statement. "We recognize every department has a role to play in reducing the tax burden on residents."

Past budget battles

The backstory:

The city’s last budget wasn’t approved without tension, after Frey vetoed a $1.88 billion budget passed out of council that included more than 70 amendments to the originally proposed budget — setting off a public back-and-forth between the council and mayor over priorities and fiscal frugality, with Frey calling the council’s budget "reckless" and council members accusing him of "playing politics."