IndexEntertainment 2FFA Landscaping 2Ask A Trooper 3“Blind Eyes Opened” 3Blotter 3Viewpoint 4History Column 5Faith & Family 6-7Community Events 64H News 6Obituaries 7Under the Big Green Roof 7Cross Country 1BDNR News 1BFootball 1BVolleyball 1BReal Estate 2BPHS Sports Banners 3BClassifieds 4BFootball Contest 5B4H News 6BWay Back When 6BVintage Bike Run 7BPublic Notices 7B-8BCOVID Blurb 8BSoccer 8B

$1Paynesville Press

211 Washburne Avenue, P.O.

Box 54, Paynesville, MN 56362

Phone: 320-243-3772Fax: 320-243-4492

www.paynesvillearea.com~ Copyright 2021 ~

• Two Sections •

Vintage Bike Run~ Page 7B

www.paynesvillearea.com Wednesday, September 22, 2021 Volume 136, No. 38

Netters Top NL-S~ Page 1B

PressPaynesville

“Blind Eyes Opened,” Page 3 • Football Stumbles at Sauk, Page 1B • Roosters Get First Win, Page 8B

HOMECOMING 2021

PHS Names Senior Candidates for 2021 Homecoming…

Photo by Michael Jacobson

Homecoming queen and king candidates at Paynesville High School for 2021 are: (front) Natalie Riley, Caitlyn Meyer, Sophie Schroeder, Kianna Roeske, and Mikayla Roberg; and (back) Tafadzwa Juma, Gavin Miller, Bennett Evans, Chase Bayer, and Blake Hiltner. This year, coronation will be held on Monday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. Homecoming Week will run from Monday, Sept. 27, to Saturday, Oct. 2, with Dogs hosting Royalton in football on Friday, Oct. 1.

Homecoming WeekHomecoming will be held next week

(Monday, Sept. 27, to Saturday, Oct. 2) at Paynesville High School, starting with the royalty coronation/variety show on

Monday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m.

PHS Dress Up DaysMonday: Sleeping Beauty Day (pajamas)Tuesday: Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Tuesday (dress as twins)Wednesday: Disney Wednesday

(dress as your favorite Disney character)

Toga Day for seniors!Thursday: Monster University Thursday

(dress in college apparel)Friday: Spirit Day

Pep FestAn outdoors pep fest will be held

on Friday, Oct. 1, at 1:30 p.m. for grades 3-12. If the weather looks poor for Friday, the pep fest could be moved to Thursday.

Varsity Athletics•Cross Country at Koronis Hills – Tuesday,

Sept. 28 – 4:30 p.m.

•Volleyball vs. Holdingford – Tuesday, Sept. 28 – C-Squad/JV at 5:45 p.m.; Varsity at 7 p.m.

•Volleyball vs. ACGC – Thursday, Sept. 30 – 5:45 p.m. and 7 p.m.

•Football vs. Royalton – Friday, Oct. 1, 7 p.m.

Volleyball/Powder PuffIronman Volleyball and Powder Puff Football will be held on Wednesday,

Sept. 29. Junior and senior boys will play Ironman Volleyball from 2 to 2:30 p.m.,

and junior and senior girls will play Powder Puff Football from 2:35 to 3:05 p.m.

DanceThis year, a semi-formal dance will be held

in the new PACC on Saturday, Oct. 2, from 7 to 10 p.m. Students can get $1 off

admission by signing up during lunch.

Attendants9: Adesyn Bogie and Peyton Hemmesch

10: Katie Good and Brandon Carlson11: Laura Dahl and Dante Deppa

The Paynesville City Council unanimously approved its proposed 2022 tax levy on Monday, Sept. 13.

“I think I’m speaking for the budget and finance committee when I say we’ve decided we’ve cut as much fat from this budget as we can. This is what it costs to run the city, and we need to levy what it costs to run the city at this point,” said Mayor Shawn Reinke. There’s “nothing else” to cut.

The city’s 2022 proposed budget calls for expenses of $2,643,347 and revenues of $1,649,293, necessitating a property tax levy of $994,054. That’s an increase of $143,054 from 2021 (when the city’s levy was $851,000), or 16.8 percent.

The council looked at tax impact estimates on a $150,000 house ($65.72 per year), on a $250,000 house ($122.47 per year), and a $300,000 house ($150.84 per year). That $65.72 increase, for a $150,000 house, breaks down to $5.48 per month, or less than two gal-lons of gas, less than a spe-cialty coffee, and less than a fastfood meal.

“For a $150,000 house in the City of Paynesville, you’re

looking at a $5.48 per month approximately. If you go to $250,000, you’re looking at $10 to $12 per month, by my math. We’re not talking huge num-bers,” said Reinke.

The city can’t continue to balance its budget using reserves, as it has done for the past three years. Or it will risk its credit rating, agreed coun-cilor Neil Herzberg, who also serves on the budget and finance committee. “We have to accept what it is,” he said.

“It’s not going to be hun-dreds of dollars,” he added.

“At the end of the day, the city has to stay open. This is what it is,” Herzberg said.

“We need to keep our reserves where they’re at,” agreed Reinke.

Councilor Paul Thielen, who voted for the preliminary tax levy, noted a concern, espe-cially from people on fixed incomes, of tax increases. Not just the city, he said, but possi-bly the school and the county, too.

“I don’t know what we could cut without compromising safety,” added councilor Megan Brick. “It’s tough.”

Reinke also said he felt for people on fixed income, who always suffer the most due to inflation. He called the 2022 tax levy and budget a “reset point,” where the city actually balanced its budget rather than relying on reserves. “I’m not of the opinion that there’s anything left to be cut,” Reinke said. “It’s tough. We feel we have to do it.”

The city started this budget process with a deficit of $340,000 and through a num-ber of budget cuts – eliminat-ing a full-time police position, not hiring a part-time Department of Motor Vehicles position, etc. – they reduced the needed tax increase to $143,000, noted Herzberg. “We made major cuts to get down to the $143,000,” he said.

One driver in the city’s bud-get woes has been absorbing new bond payments from street projects, etc. This year, the city’s insurance costs increased too: worker’s comp, property, and liability

The city’s budget is avail-able, in full, on the city’s web-site, noted Reinke. Anyone wanting to do more budget cuts can “go through it with a red pen and tell me what you think should be cut.”

The city’s preliminary levy is used by the county for esti-mates on property tax state-ments in the fall. The city has to approve a final tax levy in December, which cannot be higher than the preliminary levy proposal.

Balancing the budget has another important impact, said Reinke. It will allow the city to invest in future growth. “It costs money to grow a city, and we’re growing,” he said.

•The council heard funding requests from Community Ed director Matt Dickhausen, for summer recreation; from dire-ector Inez Jones, for the Green Roof Area Center; from presi-dent Vicki Jenniges, for the

Paynesville Historical Society; and from KLA president Jen Meagher, for Fourth of July fireworks.

•The council set their annu-al truth-in-taxation public hearing for Monday, Dec. 13, at 6:30 p.m. The city’s final 2022 budget and tax levy will be reviewed at the hearing.

Sprinkling Ban Ends•With the Minnesota Depart-

ment of Natural Resources ending drought restrictions in this area of the state, the coun-cil approved rescinding the sprinkling ban in the city – from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“I’d like to thank everyone who followed the restrictions,” said public works director Ron Mergen. “It is noted, and it helped.”

The City of Paynesville, said Mergen, reduced its daily water use from an average of 850,000 gallons to 650,000.

In Other Business…•The council accepted a

donation from the Paynesville Lions Club, up to $2,200, for the donation of a bike repair sta-tion and a trash receptacle along the pedestrian trail on Veterans Drive. The Lions recently put a bench at this spot along the trail.

•The council set a public hearing on Monday, Oct. 25, at 6:30 p.m. to certify past-due garbage, water, sewer, snow removal, and mowing bills to the county to put on 2022 prop-erty taxes.

CITY OF PAYNESVILLE

Council OKs preliminary levy of $994,054

By Michael Jacobson

For $150,000 house, increasecould result in

$5.48 per month

CITY COUNCIL – Page 2

Enrollment at the Paynesville Schools started at 898 this fall.

For the second straight year, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a drop in opening-day enrollment in the Paynesville Area Schools.

Following an enrollment gain – to 934 students in 2019-20 – the district has dropped to 912 students in 2020-21 and now 898 students in 2021-22.

Over the summer, superin-tendend Janell Bullard the district lost 24 students (13 choosing another district or to enroll in their home district and 11 either homeschooling

or enrolling online). But the district gained 31 students over the summer (18 at the elementary and 13 in the sec-ondary school) for a net gain of seven.

The district budgeted for 910 students this school year. Bullard said the district’s enrollment would flucuate, that administration would keep an eye on it, and that a key date for enrollment – used by many of the state funding formulas – is Oct. 1. If district enrollment continues to be below budget, they might need to adjust for the implications, added Bullard.

She noted that the Early Childhood Special Education enrollment is 11, which at 0.4 FTE is another four pupil units of funding.

They are also watching a

PAYNESVILLE SCHOOLS

Enrollment still down due to COVID pandemic

By Michael Jacobson

District sees898 students

coming to schoolso far this fall

SCHOOL BOARD – Page 2