Frey's 2026 Proposal: A 7.8% Levy Increase and the End of Police Double-Overtime

Mayor Jacob Frey delivered his 2026 budget address on Aug. 13, 2025, proposing a roughly $2 billion budget built on a 7.8% property-tax levy increase and the elimination of "double-time" overtime pay for Minneapolis police officers.

Frey framed the 7.8% levy as restraint. By his administration's account, simply maintaining current spending would have required an increase of about 13%, which he called unacceptable; staff identified roughly $23 million in cuts and savings to bring it down to 7.8%. Even trimmed, the increase would raise the total amount levied by about $39 million, the largest jump in over a decade. The Board of Estimate and Taxation set a maximum levy growth of 8% in September, and budget staff estimated a median residential homestead would see an increase of about $242.

Among the savings was ending the city's Critical Staffing Overtime policy, which pays officers double their regular rate for certain overtime hours. The change was projected to save about $3.64 million a year while keeping the standard time-and-a-half overtime rate and avoiding layoffs.

Several council members objected to the cuts. The council reviewed and amended the plan through the fall, then adopted the 2026 budget on Dec. 16 by an 11-0 vote, with two members absent. Among the amendments, members added a requirement for quarterly accounting of costs tied to the city's settlement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and prioritized funding for 31 civilian investigator positions in the police department. The agreement, announced jointly by Frey and Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai, kept core services and avoided layoffs.

For Lowry Hill and the lakes neighborhoods, the practical takeaway is a meaningful property-tax increase for 2026 and a structural change to how the city pays for police overtime. Residents can read Frey's August address and the adopted budget on minneapolismn.gov.