FARGO, ND – The Fargo City Commission has given its approval to the maximum amount that can be budgeted in 2026.
The Commission gave its preliminary approval at its Monday night meeting by way of a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Dave Piepkorn and Michelle Turnberg casting dissenting votes. The pair of commissioners felt that the timing of the approval was too soon, as the budget had just been released at a 12 p.m. meeting at City Hall.
The budget for 2026 is $140 million, an increase of nearly $8 million over the 2025 budgeted amount.
Fargo Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney says the 2026 budget is a balanced one.
“As a city, we continually challenge to fund growing service expectations, rising operating costs and competitive wages, all within the environment of constrained revenue,” he said. “This year also introduced two major shifts – the implementation of state-imposed property tax revenue cap and the integration of a new public safety sales tax.”
The budget will be presented for final approval on September 29 with a public hearing two weeks earlier. Mahoney encourages public engagement.
Susan Thompson, the city’s Finance Director, says the city’s revenues are ‘flat’ and the expenses continue to rise.
“We’re seeing stagnation in key revenue streams, particularly in the general fund,” she said. “The new property tax cap limits our ability to grow revenues at the same pace as our costs. State aid is steady, but not increasing enough to offset inflation of service expansion.”
The budget process began with a nearly $7 million shortfall.
“Through difficult but thoughtful decisions, we fully closed that gap without reducing core services or dipping into reserves,” Mahoney said.
The city is reducing the general fund budget by nearly 10 full-time employees by cutting the total number of authorized positions, a cut Mahoney said is permanent.
“These positions will be eliminated, and we’ll be able to adjust priorities and expectations accordingly,” he said. “These are not easy and will be difficult in our impacted department.”
