We need to build a new fire station.”

City Councilor Lisa Leifeld

The first look at the 2026 Hastings city budget showcased various budgetary pressures on the city from PFAS to capital improvements and overdue maintenance to debt service on the civic arena.
On Monday, June 2, the Hastings City Council was briefed in a workshop on the 2026 budget by Finance Manager Chris Eitemiller. The topline estimated a more than 8% preliminary tax increase “just to keep the lights on,” said Eitemiller.
Across the city, county and even state, budget forecasts are looking grim. ISD 200 is expecting a $2.4 million deficit in the coming school year, Dakota County previously forecasted a potential 11% levy increase and the state is expecting a $5.1 billion deficit in the FY 2028-29 biennium.

PFAS
The budget issue that has garnered the most headlines in the city is the nearly $70 million price tag to construct three water treatment plants in the coming years. While millions of dollars of outside funding have already been secured via grants and connecting Hastings Well 5 to the 3M settlement fund, the majority of the $68.9 million will be raised through water rate increases totaling 158%.
City administrator Dan Wietecha called this number the “worst case scenario,” in that it would fall if other sources of outside funding were to be secured including a state bonding bill still under consideration in St. Paul at time of writing.
This cost, if shouldered by the city, would be a “significant debt increase,” said Eitemiller.
While the EPA recently signaled its intent to extend the timeframe from 2029 to 2031 that municipalities have to treat their water for PFAS, the timeline for Hastings water treatment plant construction has not changed. Wietecha cited inflation and increased competition as factors.

Capital Improvement and Equipment Plans
Delays in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and Capital Equipment Program (CEP) are further pressures on the 2026 budget. The City of Hastings boasts a backlog of deferred building maintenance, rotations for fleet vehicles and street work and trail maintenance.
“Current funding is not keeping pace with CIP/CEP,” said Eitemiller.
Two particularly large issues of a new future fire station and the future of the Hastings Hydrokinetic plant were the subject of previous city council workshops on March 16 and May 5 respectively.
In March, Fire Chief John Townsend presented on the costs of a new fire station. Even without the cost of land acquisition, a new fire station would cost $31 million, according to estimates provided by CNH Architects at the meeting.
Hastings’ current fire station was built in 1961 and remodeled in 1994 but lacks many of the safety and design features of modern fire stations.
Despite that cost, city councilors were open to the suggestion of a new fire station at some point in the future: “We need to build a new fire station,” said City Councilor Lisa Leifeld.
In May, Public Works Director Ryan Stempski discussed the future of the hydrokinetic plant which the city currently intends to turn over to the Army Corps of Engineers due to rising maintenance and insurance costs and falling revenue.

Civic Arena funding
Much of the workshop was dominated with a discussion of how to fund debt service on the recent upgrades to the Hastings Civic Arena, especially given ISD 200’s refusal to pay any debt service on the project.
The $5.3 million project included a new refrigeration unit, replacement of the west rink roof, and the addition of a solar array. This year’s payment is expected to be $614,000.
According to the joint powers agreement between ISD 200 and the City of Hastings, “cost sharing of Capital Improvement Projects will be negotiated individually, and each project will require a unique agreement.”
Generally, those projects were funded with a 70/30 split between the city and school district. While this number isn’t stipulated in the agreement, many projects followed this model including the development of Vets Park soccer field in 1990-1991, lighting for Vets Park baseball fields in 1995-1996, and resurfacing tennis courts in 1983, 1986, and 1989.
Previously, ISD 200 had paid for 30% of the debt service on the civic arena in addition to ice time which recently rose to $260 per hour.
At the Aug. 7, 2024 school board work session, Wietecha spoke before the school board asking them to pay 30% of the total costs of the project, roughly $1.6 million. At that meeting, school board members rejected the request citing the precedent of paying for maintenance rather than construction of projects as well as the timing of the request which came as work was already being undertaken.
“I feel like this should have been a conversation we had three to four years ago,” said School Board Chair Carrie Tate at the work session.
Even as the two bodies met for a joint powers meeting on April 21 where the topic of the civic arena was discussed, city officials expressed frustration in being unable to reach a deal with the district.
“We’ve been stonewalled 100%,” said Councilor Tim Lawrence.
“It’s gonna be hard all around but still, we shouldn’t have to pay for all of it,” said Mayor Mary Fasbender.
City officials discussed plans to jointly pay for the civic arena including raising the rates for ice times or adding a flat fee for the district in addition to ice times.
“Because the school board has been so insistent on saying ‘no, no, no we won’t discuss it,’ we don’t even know if any of that is viable,” said Wietecha.
If the city and school district fail to reach an agreement, Hastings High School hockey might have to find a new home. It was a possibility city councilors did not relish:
“We’re spending so much time talking about this piece of the budget, and I’m more concerned about every other thing that’s happening, that if the school board isn’t going to work with us, then we come up with some kind of number and will hockey leave? Potentially,” said Leifeld.