Council hopes to lower preliminary levy before it is finalized

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

With more questions than answers and facing a looming end of September deadline, the Ottertail City Council set a rough preliminary tax levy increase for 2026. 

During its regularly scheduled meeting last Thursday night, the Ottertail City Council approved a preliminary tax levy increase of 15 percent over its 2025 levy, but will hope to lower that amount before it is finalized later this year.

The city council said it had a number of questions regarding 2026 budgets, which includes several road projects that have been discussed and a potential expansion of the fire hall down the road. In order to give the city some leeway with its preliminary tax levy, which can be lowered, but not increased when it is set by the end of September, the city council set a high levy that could be lowered. 

Last year the city council took a similar approach by setting a 15 percent preliminary tax levy increase that was later lowered to 10 percent when more finalized budget numbers were set closer to the end of the year. 

The city council said it will set a work session to go over the budget and potential needs of the community at a future date. 

In other news

• Acknowledged the following donations: park bench and a park flag pole with a six foot United States flag from Ted and Rita Jennings and $100 from Stanley Watkins for the Ottertail Fire Department’s operating expenses. 

• Heard a request from Bob Waters to make repairs to Lueders Road. As part of his request, Waters asked the city to place four inches of Class 5 on the road, fill in pot holes and repair wash boarding. He said the road is difficult to navigate if it is not graded every 1-2 weeks. A few other people at the meeting also spoke about the deteriorating condition of the road and need for repairs. City clerk/treasurer Amanda Thorson said the city got a proposal in 2022 and the cost for paving Lueders Road was over $500,000. According to the city’s policy, 70 percent of that project would be assessed to adjacent property owners who were reportedly not in favor of proceeding with the project due to the cost at that time. 

• Heard the fire department report from fire chief Joe Ahlfs who said the department has responded to 18 medical calls, a bale fire in the city limits and a fire alarm in the past month. 

• Heard a faulty emergency light caused an issue with the auto door opener at the community center. The city repaired the issue and the garage door is now operational. 

• Approved updating the green population signs that greet passersby in the city limits at a cost of $200 per sign. The population has grown dramatically in recent years from the 629 on the current population signs to 703 today. 

• Heard the Habitat for Humanity will be moving a home from Underwood to Ottertail on September 9. The organization is still seeking a buyer for the house and it will be located in the Arvilla development. 

• Heard a presentation from Rebecca Petersen, of West Central Initiative, about some of the projects that have been spearheaded between the city and WCI over the past year. WCI will be celebrating its 40th anniversary next year and the organization has awarded $557,774 in grants and loans to Ottertail businesses and organizations over that time span. 

• Approved a request from Steve Larson to close several roads by the fire hall to allow for a Shriners Parade on Saturday, Sept. 13. The parade will include a color guard, Shriner clowns, viking ship, red sports cars. Shriner motorcycles and more. The parade is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. and will start at the community center and end on West Lake Drive.

• Approved a letter to send to the Minnesota DNR and hydrologists to encourage a collaborative effort between state agencies and local property owners to look at potential ways to improve the water flow along the Otter Tail River. The decision over whether the man-made cut in the river should be closed, or to leave it open, is made by organizations in the State of Minnesota.

• Approved calling for a public hearing to potentially create a TIF District for the Ottertail Family Recreation Center to support the construction of the facility.

• Heard the city will meet with representatives from Federal Warning Systems to see what options are available to install two warning sirens in Ottertail.

• Heard the city will meet with a representative from Lakes Area Generators to discuss potentially installing a generator for the city office building. The city said it will most likely need to seek a Request for Proposal for the generator, but the meeting was the first step to see what may be needed at the city office. 

• Discussed a potential chicken ordinance that could allow up to four chickens at residential properties in the community. The council discussed an ordinance used by the City of Vergas and said it will hope to get an ordinance in place to potentially allowing chickens in a limited capacity by the end of the year.

• Heard the next Ottertail City Council meeting will be moved to Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. and not the regular third Thursday of the month due to a conflict.