“Difficult cuts must be made, but those cuts need to be grounded in data and equity.”
Dear Community,
Earlier today, Mayor Frey published his proposed City Budget for 2027. Mayor Frey’s proposal includes a 11.3% increase in property taxes, which would cause a significant increase to the cost of living for both homeowners and renters. Mayor Frey’s proposal does not include any improved services for residents. Instead, Mayor Frey proposes cutting 100 public sector jobs, serious cuts to departments that deliver critical services to residents, and increasing the Minneapolis Police Department budget by over $18 million.
I hear regularly from constituents that they do not feel they are receiving City services that are proportional to the property taxes they pay. My priority for the 2027 budget will be to reprioritize Mayor Frey’s budget proposal to invest in programs with measurable benefits for residents, and cut programs that do not deliver for residents.
The City Budget is a large document, and I will be reviewing Mayor Frey’s proposal in detail over the coming weeks. But there are a few things that immediately stand out to me as concerns that must be addressed:
- Arbitrarily increasing MPD’s budget by over $18 million regardless of public safety outcomes. For over a year, MPD has been unable to explain the decisions behind their budget. This is massively inflating property taxes without using data to prioritize programs that deliver for residents. For the last several years, Mayor Frey has increased MPD’s budget by millions without providing any specifics on how resources will be used effectively. Mayor Frey continues that practice in 2027 by proposing an additional $13.1 for MPD overtime, which has no measurable outcomes for public safety. He is also proposing an additional $4 million for police recruitment, while also acknowledging that recruiting more officers doesn’t bring down overtime costs. Recent data also shows that the number of officers doesn’t necessarily improve public safety: MPD clearance rates for homicides and 911 response times are significantly better than they were in 2016, when MPD had nearly 900 officers. Property taxes will continue to go up as long as MPD and Mayor Frey allow MPD to drain the City budget for programs that are not supported by data. Public safety funding should be prioritized for programs with data-backed outcomes, like the non-fatal shooting task force or behavioral crisis response.
- Under-resourcing rental housing inspections and handouts for slumlords. Mayor Frey proposes cutting nine staff from the Regulatory Services Department, which is responsible for rental housing inspections and enforcing other liveability issues. This is unacceptable, especially when the City’s failures to oversee rental licensing at Heritage Park and other properties is impacting thousands of vulnerable residents. The Mayor is also requesting that the City Council approve a 2027 Fee Schedule that would continue to subsidize landlords and slumlords by over $3 million/year instead of having them pay their fair share.
- Cuts to programs that working class people rely on. The Mayor proposes cutting the municipal sidewalk plowing program that the City Council funded to support safe and accessible sidewalks year-round. This modest program has successfully improved safe and accessible winter pedestrian conditions citywide, which helps the City meet our goals of reducing car usage. The Mayor also proposes significant cuts to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Relations, which houses critical services like transportation for seniors, legal services for immigrants, and other community-based needs. I am deeply concerned about these cuts and will be seeking more information on what programs may be impacted.
- Cutting $4 million from climate legacy funds. Last year, the City Council increased utility franchise fees to support the City’s climate action goals. The increase brought in $4 million dollars that were supposed to be used to lower energy bills for working families. At the time, Mayor Frey opposed the increase to franchise fees. Now, he is proposing cutting the nearly $4 million altogether– essentially using it to close the gaps created by MPD’s budget increases rather than using effective management to reduce police overtime.
- Continues to subsidize MPD officers’ private side hustles by over $1.4 million. MPD officers can work “off-duty,” meaning they use City owned cars, uniforms and weapons while working private side jobs as security guards. The officers keep the payment for these jobs and residents get nothing. The City Council approved fees on MPD off-duty work that would recoup about $1.4 million or more each year to cover the cost of public resources being used to subsidize officers’ private side jobs. Mayor Frey has refused to implement these fees in 2026, and has not indicated any intention to implement them in 2027. A multi-million dollar subsidy to officers’ personal income is unacceptable.
You can review the full Budget Book here. In previous years, the Budget Book included information on the impacts that residents would feel from any proposed cuts. This is the first year since the implementation of the strong mayor system that the Budget Book does not include any rationale for why the cuts are proposed or what the impact on residents might be. This is a concerning choice by the Frey administration to provide less information which limits transparent and data-backed governance. In challenging fiscal years, transparency about cuts and their impacts is more important than ever.
As local officials, we must be extremely targeted in budgeting public resources to provide residents the services that they rely on and pay for. We cannot afford to fund initiatives that provide no measurable results for residents. Difficult cuts must be made, but those cuts need to be grounded in data and equity.
I look forward to working with the community and my colleagues to build a 2027 Budget that prioritizes working class residents.
Via constituent newsletter
Here’s an idea that I’m surprised Ms Wonsley and DSA council members haven’t brought up since they are just regular folk and seem to hate anyone with any kind of money. A not so difficult budget cut would be to cut the $110,000/year salaries of the city council members by 20%. That would be $22,000 X 13, or $286,000/year, which could probably cover the snow-shoveling project. Or would you not be able to live on a measly $88,000 a year?
Wonsley, the leader of the DSA aligned voting block, is going to be a defund/ destabilize…abolish for any/ all police agencies…no matter what, and she would do this SAME thing in any place she landed.
Of course she has an opportunity now, with this budget process, to demean our city employees working in public safety, and disrespect Mayor Frey, as per norm. No surprises with her.
https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/we-won-the-move-minneapolis-council-member-celebrates-after-community-thwarts-plans-for-old-3rd-precinct-site/
Excerpt..
“Before running for city council, Wonsley was a community organizer who co-founded the Seward Police Abolitionist Group, made up of neighbors who opposed rebuilding the 3rd Precinct and supported defunding the Minneapolis Police Department. “
Even you must realize that shoveling the snow does not make people drive less. I watched kids navigate the homeless encampment under the bridge on Cedar Avenue. Is that safe. you do not have solutions rooted in community – you have a wish list grounded in ideology. You alone have cost the city millions in your ridiculous ordinances, endless delays in the 3rd precinct and George Floyd. Community has told you, but you don’t like the answer. Play well with others that is your job.
Robin Wonsley is the problem. She and her short sighted ignorant ilk will soon be replaced. I just hope we can get a functioning group of city council members before the city has turned completely into a third world Mud hole.
Jamal, don’t hold your breath, the voters of Minneapolis want this type of leadership (if you could call it that).
Over 3 years before the next local elections, so Mpls is STUCK with this Wonsley, DSA aligned voting block.
Only hope is to peel off CM Osman, but he is so problematic with his fraud adjacent history, that he is just a transactional player now, I guess hoping that this DSA voting block will offer him cover IF he mostly goes along and votes with them.
One of Wonsley’s reliable voting members…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Osman_(politician)
Under “Personal Life”…
Feeding Our Future connection
On February 17, 2025, federal prosecutors presented evidence connecting Osman’s former nonprofit, Stigma-Free International, to the large-scale fraud case centering Feeding Our Future.[16] Prosecutors alleged that Osman, his wife Ilo Amba, and two others, founded the nonprofit as a shell company before transferring it to others who were able to commit fraud under the nonprofit’s name. Amba operated a Feeding Our Future food site, which received more than $450,000 in reimbursements from the program.[17][18][19] Neither Osman nor Amba has been charged with any crime.[20]
About a month after turning Stigma-Free over to new directors, Amba incorporated another nonprofit, Urban Advantage Center. Urban Advantage Center was shut down for civil violations in a settlement with state attorney general Keith Ellison, who alleged that Amba created a “sham” charity to enrich herself.