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International Falls city council is looking at a budget for 2023 that includes a nearly 6 per cent increase in the tax levy.

Council gave approval to the preliminary budget at a special meeting Monday night that includes a 5.91 per cent increase to the levy.

Mayor Harley Droba says the initial numbers showed a 14 per cent increase before the departments made reductions.

“Based off their percentage of the budget, if a particular department had 26% of the budget, they had to lose their portion of the $40,000 that we were looking at cutting,” says Droba.

City Administrator Betty Bergstrom is appreciative of the department heads finding the savings they did.

“There wasn’t a lot of fluff in their budgets to begin with, but they found some places where they understood they needed to cut. They did their part, so I was appreciative of them for that,” says Bergstrom.

The numbers are still preliminary and could change.

One area of spending that could come in lower is for the airport.

“Right now, we have budgeted roughly $200,000 for the airport. However, there are some grants that are out there that we are waiting to find out if we receive,” says Droba.

Droba says if they are successful, the city’s contribution is reduced to $25 thousand.

Final approval of the budget by city council will come in December.