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SLEEPY EYE -- In an effort to sustain its deputy registrar office in the city building, the Sleepy Eye City Council unanimously approved a resolution supporting a permanent state revenue sharing fund Tuesday.
"We're asking the State of Minnesota for a bigger piece of the pie," said Sleepy Eye City Manager Bob Elston. "We take in about $95,000 a year, but being a deputy registrar office costs us $120,000 to $125,000 a year."
Deputy registrar offices provide vehicle registration, license plates, tabs, title transfers, recreational vehicle licensing plus address changes and replacement of lost or stolen standard Class D driver's licenses with duplicate cards.
The resolution requests the 2027 Minnesota Legislature recognize the critical need to sustain deputy registrar offices and enact a fund sourced with 50% of existing filing fee revenue captured by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) from its online and mail-in transactions to be disbursed quarterly among all state deputy offices.
According to the resolution, the DPS has transferred 40% of its data entry work to deputy registrars without due compensation for additional time-consuming tasks.
In addition, increased costs to provide local services, exacerbated by competition and expanded new duties both caused by the State, now routinely outpace filing fee income realized by any deputy registrar office and causing six permanent office closures statewide since 2021.
The resolution was approved on a motion by Councilor Nate Stevermer, seconded by Christina Andres.
The city council tabled action on a fence/retaining wall at 700 Prescott Street N.W. to the Sept. 8 meeting.
Elston provided a first look at the 2027 city budget with a recommended 9.59% ($193,694) preliminary increase to $5,838,850. After a Sept. 2 budget meeting the preliminary budget will be considered at the Sept. 8 city council meeting.
The estimated city tax hike would boost annual taxes by $10.40 a month, $125 per year on a home valued at $175,000. Estimated tax increase on a $275,000 home is $17.50 a month or $210 per year.