TRUMAN– On Monday the Truman City Council briefly discussed its 2025 budget and levy and also discussed progress on some of its ongoing projects.

At 6 p.m., during the Truth in Taxation hearing, one business owner expressed frustration with their statement and said they will be paying 50 percent more to the school district and nearly 20 percent more to the city.

“We all feel your pain,” said Mayor Jake Ebert. “We all live here and pay the same taxes. I wish there was a clear answer.”

The resident acknowledged that it’s not just the city, but the county levy that is increasing as well.

“It costs as much to do business in Truman as it does Fairmont with not as many people coming in,” they said.

When it came time to approve of the 2025 city and utility budget and levy, the council did so at a 15 percent levy increase though it still hopes to lower it by the end of the year.

In other news, Utility Foreman Brent Brown and Bolton and Menk Engineer Troy Nemmers presented on the Jones Subdivision final plat which includes seven lots. Brown said he will work on getting it recorded and that he’s working on setting up an account with MNbid, which is a state auction site that the lots will be listed on.

The board approved of the final plat and asked that information about the county’s tax abatement program be included in any advertisements of the lots.

Moving to other matters, Brown said he has visited with MnDOT about getting some additional speed signs on Highway 15. The council has been talking about the matter as a sidewalk and crosswalk will soon be added thanks to a Local Partnership Program (LPP) grant from MnDOT.

“To move forward we would need to prepare a resolution authorizing MnDOT to conduct a speed study on the highway,” Brown said.

Some council members expressed concern that the speed limit could actually be raised.

Council Member Patty Truax asked whether MnDOT would also need to do a traffic study. She pointed out that neither study was done in order to to put in the sidewalk and crosswalk.

Brown said that undergoing the studies would not cost money but that the community would need to be notified. Deputy Clerk Carol Becker said that it was not recommended to do the study in poor weather so that it wouldn’t begin until the spring and it would then take several months.

Truax asked again if the council could request a traffic study to be done as well and Brown said he would ask. After the studies are done, Brown said the total cost of two signs would be $5,383. The council approved of requesting a study to be done.

Next, Brown gave an update on some figures that came in on the pickleball court project at Graf Park. He said that the cost of the pad with dirt work, site prep, etc. would be $21,750. Lining on the new sport court and existing basketball court would be $11,550. Initially the council had discussed putting a fence around the court but decided to hold off pursing that addition for now.

With the new quotes, the project would cost $33,300 and the council currently has about $15,000 budgeted so it will continue to pursue grants to help fund it in the coming months.

Finally, Brown said that it sounds like the ambulance department is interested in some of the excess squad car equipment, including radios and light bars, following the dissolution of the police department.