Minneapolis council members blame police for budget woes, but that’s not the whole story

Each week, Star Tribune city hall reporter Deena Winter offers the inside scoop on what’s happening in Minneapolis — from power struggles in City Hall to how taxpayer money is being spent. The progressives in control of the Minneapolis City Council have developed a narrative about the city’s budget problems , and they’re sticking to it: They blame the $33 million budget gap squarely on the police department. Mayor Jacob Frey has proposed the city address the shortfall with an 11.3% increase in the property tax levy, the elimination of 100 positions and the consolidation of several departments. Council Members Soren Stevenson and Jason Chavez say the financial crisis is because of the Police Department’s overspending while Council Member Robin Wonsley has added that “taxpayers will continue to see increased property taxes every year until the city stops rubber-stamping blank checks for MPD.” Advertisement This is just a sampling of the rhetoric that’s been coming out of City Hall for weeks. Frey often blames decreasing downtown property values . But the budget and finance experts at City Hall have said the budget gap is largely because of increasing personnel costs combined with flat or declining revenue. Deputy Chief Finance Officer Jayne Discenza has said the No. 1 reason the city is in this situation is rising labor costs. Long a bastion of organized labor, Minneapolis has given employees big pay bumps in recent years, led by the police union, which in 2024 won a historic raise of nearly 22% over three years, followed by public works with a historic 30% raise over three years and park workers with a 10.25% cost-of-living adjustment over three years, plus a $1.75 hourly bump.