Minneapolis, St. Paul facing budget shortfalls for 2027
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota are both facing big budget shortfalls.
St. Paul facing $26M budget deficit
What we know:
St. Paul is currently operating in the red—a financial hole that will lead to some tough choices for the city’s new mayor.
St. Paul faces a $26 million budget deficit. Officials are considering both raising taxes and cutting services to close the gap.
Mayor Kaohly Her is scheduled to deliver her first budget address Thursday at 11 a.m., where she will layout her spending plans and priorities for 2027. The address can be watched live in the player above.
Minneapolis facing $30M budget shortfall
By the numbers:
It's a similar situation in Minneapolis, where the city is looking at a $30 million budget shortfall.
Mayor Jacob Frey released his proposed $2.3 billion budget on Wednesday, which calls for an 11% property tax hike—more than double what he originally planned to propose. For the average homeowner, that would mean another $409 per year, or around an extra $34 per month.
Frey is also considering consolidating departments, eliminating some programs and cutting about 100 government positions.
Frey says the cost of providing services and programs that residents expect is growing faster than the revenue to pay for them.
"The difficult decisions we’re making in this budget reflect where we’ve been, not where we are and certainly not where we are headed," Frey said in his budget address on Wednesday.
What's next:
The budget still needs approval from the Minneapolis City Council, which will hold public hearings in the coming months before holding a final vote in December.
Minneapolis park board unhappy with proposed budget
What they're saying:
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board says its portion of the mayor's property tax increase is less than expected and could lead to layoffs.
Frey is proposing a 2.5% budget increase for parks, but that's less than half of the 5.86% increase the park board requested.
The board says the mayor's plan would cost up to 26 employees their jobs, along with other significant changes.
The park board said it will continue discussions with the mayor and will release its own recommended budget next week.
The Source: Information in this story comes from St. Paul and Minneapolis budget documents and Mayor Jacob Frey's budget address on Aug. 12, 2026.