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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2025 VOL. 44 NO. 10 www.quadcommunitypress.com $1.00
HONORING OUR HEROES: Recognizing our local veterans PAGE 15
BY MADELINE DOLBY EDITOR
CIRCLE PINES — Circle Pines residents can expect a small increase in spending next year, as the city’s proposed budget and levy will increase slightly. Savings resulting from the contract with the Spring Lake Park— Blaine—Mounds View (SBM) Fire Department helped hold the line on spending. The 2026 budget has been set at $3,723,197, a 1.6% increase from $3,622,307 in 2025. City Finance Director Kate Manson said the contributing factors that led to the increased expenditures include the parks improvement plan and police and fire contracts. “About half of our expenditures are dedicated to police and fire,” Manson said. “We do survey the public, and 97% of (residents) in 2024 felt that the city is safe, and 77% feel police services are excellent or good. We’re seeing results of having quality departments.” There are also some decreases within the budget. The mayor and council budget will decrease due to the removal of the celebration costs associated with the city’s 75th anniversary. The city administration and finance departments will decrease due to staff salary adjustments. Manson said the fire budget will decrease by 10.3% because of the contract with the Spring Lake Park— Blaine—Mounds View (SBM) Fire Department. By fully contracting with SBM for fire protection, the city’s costs will decrease by $43,429 for 2026. Manson added that other budget expenditures include parks and streets maintenance and administrative costs. The levy has been set at $3,534,030, which is an increase of $300,360 from $3,233,670 in 2025. The city’s tax rate is expected to increase from 46.997 to 49.130 in 2026. The levy and total tax capacity for all properties in the city are used to calculate the local tax rate, which is the local tax levy divided by the total tax capacity. According to Anoka County, the median market-value home in Circle Pines will increase in value by 5.6%. A median-valued home is a home where half of the homes in the city are valued higher than that home, and half are valued lower. Manson provided an example of how the increase will impact a home in Circle Pines. “A $300,000 home would become a $316,000 home and pay an additional $12.65 in (city) taxes for 2026,” she explained. This home would see a city tax bill of approximately $1,514. Manson added that if the market value of a resident’s home did not change in 2026, they will still pay more in tax because the tax rate for the city has increased. The next City Council meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13, at City Hall.
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Press Publications has helped deliver letters to Santa. Each year, Press Publications asks children to drop off their letters to Santa in the big red mailbox outside of the office in White Bear Lake, or to mail them in. Some of the desired items this year included Legos, Pokemon cards, stuffed animals and more. See pages 8 and 9 for more Santa letters. And be sure to read even more Santa letters online at presspubs.com.
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Circle Pines sees small spending increase in 2026
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