Shorewood Council Meeting 90 Second Facts

Caution! Reading this article may cause significant side effects like dizziness, headaches and high blood pressure. If you experience any of these symptoms after reading this article please see your doctor or psychologist or otolaryngologist – just see someone.

SCA attends every City Council meeting so you don’t have to. This week we read – OK skimmed – 847 pages before falling asleep in preparation for this week’s city council meeting. Now getting the highlights of the council actions is simple enough that a 6^th grader could understand city business – take that Jeff Foxworthy! Here goes.

Financial: accounts payable totaled $300,090

This week’s winners for the biggest payments go to (drum roll):

• • $65,256 Gross Payroll
  • $60,357 New Look Contracting (Birch Bluff street project)
  • $18,627 Campbell Knutson (city contract attorney charges -not itemized)
  • $8,775 Twin City Trees (removed some trees somewhere in the city)
  • $6,370 Schneider Excavating (pond maintenance on Mary Lake Trail)

Notable City Council Approvals

• Aaron Osowski, City Planner – council approved this permanent position with an annual salary of $96,200 + standard benefits. This was a replacement position for now Planning Director Jake Griffiths. The Planning Dept. staffs 3.5 employees including 1 code enforcement position. (Editors Opinion: Meh)
• Galpin Lake Trail – (242 pages of engineering marvel for a 673 ft. walking trail – sarcasm right?) funding for the trail on the South side of Hwy 7 passed council’s approval 5/0 and will provide a 673 ft. walkway for children and adults to cross Hwy 7 at Oak Street to safely get to school, church and downtown Excelsior. The net cost to Shorewood taxpayers is only $120,000 after receiving a $486,000 grant from Safe Routes To School (SRTS). (Editors Opinion: YAY – about time)
• Mill Street Water Main Cooperative Agreement – part of a larger project led by Hennepin County starting in Chanhassen, this project at some time in the future could provide 25 Shorewood residents with access to city water. But with just 1 homeowner expressing interest to hook up to city water and a taxpayer cost of $1.4M, fiscal conservatives council members Sanschagrin and Digruttolo voted NO. The project passed on a 3/2 vote without a clear understanding of who pays for the water main. Call the mayor if you’re outraged – we are! (Editors Opinion: BOO – poor cost benefit to taxpayer)
• Minnesota Paid Leave – Shorewood chose to pay both employee and employer portion of this new tax at a rate of 0.88%. The estimated cost to taxpayers is approximately $15,000 per year. (Editors Opinion: Why?)

Bolton & Menk Consulting Engineering contract was extended for one year on a month-by-month basis while staff continues to pursue internal efficiencies to reduce overall costs. Consulting rates are expected to increase on average by 2.7%. (Editors Opinion: this is a good start)

• PFAS Settlement 3M & DuPont – council voted 5/0 to accept payments of $68,200 over an 8 year period rather than accepting a highly discounted lump sum settlement of $54,949 now as recommended by Admin. Nevinski. These monies will be comingled with the city’s Water Fund and nothing specific for PFAS harm such as remediation or water testing. (Editors Opinion: why didn’t anyone ask for interest over time vs. net present value calculations?)

2026 Budget / Levy Truth in Taxation Presentation (spared you from reading 341 pages – you’re welcome!) All you really need to know is the city’s budget will increase by 8.6% from $7,593,570 in 2025 to $8,246,983 in 2026 an increase of $653,413. Everything else is financial witchcraft. Here’s a look at the new services the city will be providing in 2026:

NONE – let that sync in – or maybe it’s “sink.” Don’t think too hard.

Seriously, here’s an overview. If you want to fall asleep go read the 341 page packet with kindergarten graphics and eye charts that will test your best pair of readers.

– Operating budget $3,576,464 (25 full time, 6 part time, 13 casual employees)

– Debt Service $1,095,586 (bond interest & repayment on $24 million)

– Public Safety $2,859,433 (police $1,877k & fire $982k)

– Capital Levy $715,500 (capital improvement i.e. roads, buildings, etc.)

Based on the increase/decrease valuation of your home, residents are likely to see between a $9 – $113 increases in taxes for the city portion of your bill. Don’t blame the messenger if it’s higher, we just report this stuff. Hennepin County and Minnetonka School District really take up the majority of the tax increase you will see this year (really, we just don’t make this stuff up). Go look at your bill. You’ll see. (Caution: More good news, your water and sewer bills are increasing, too. $$$.)

Between 2027 and 2035 the city plans to apply for $20.2M in new bonds for road improvement projects on top of the $24M bond debt the city already holds and shells out $1,095,586 per year to repay. In addition the Long Range Financial plan calls for a 118% increase in taxes between now and 2035. Time to move!

Told you a 6^th grader would understand it. If you finished this article in 90 seconds you skimmed – go back and read it again and send it to your 3 worst enemies, Nextdoor, X, Facebook, Instagram and all the other grams.

Trigger Warning! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Next City Council meeting is scheduled for January 12, 2026.

We will be watching!

Additional resources:
City Council Meeting Dec. 8, 2025 (watch it any time)
Public Background-Packet (read it)