BIWABIK — City councilors in Biwabik approved a 24.7% property tax levy increase Wednesday after finding minimal adjustments to the 2026 budget, which they ultimately reduced by 4.9% over the last week.

Officials were hesitant to bake a potential revenue source into the budget, and four of the five council members didn’t commit to leaving a public works position open for the year as ways to reduce the levy further.

A sale of city land is in the works — about $191,000 — but City Administrator Michael Schultz cautioned it wasn’t “cash in hand” for the city and could still face challenges.

Similarly, the council on Wednesday approved a separation agreement with a public works employee that leaves the fourth position open into May of next year.

That represents a break-even on the budget for the city, and committing to a full year of a three-person team would have saved about $63,000. Schultz said the move would still put the levy over 19%.

“I’m already nervous about not having a mechanic on staff until May,” said Mayor Steve Biondich. “I’m concerned how much it’s going to cost us outsourcing mechanic work and overtime. It’s easy to commit to cut something, but there’s consequences.”

Councilor Dan Berg, who sits on the budget committee, said the city has kept a four-person public works crew without analysis supporting it. He said he was willing to “take the risk” in cutting the position and adjusting next year if it became needed.

“We just said we had four in the past so let’s keep four,” Berg said. “I think our performance on our crew is going to change drastically starting in January, to the positive side.”

Biwabik’s levy increases represents one of the largest in the region, on top of a 12% increase levied by St. Louis County this week.

Updated (Friday, Dec. 19 at 10:38 a.m.): Corrected the difference in the levy proposed last week to the one approved from 4.5% to 4.9%. Reflected in the first paragraph.