What happened
- Special meeting called to review proposed 2020 fire protection contracts with the six townships in the Kenyon Fire Department service area.
- Fire contracts based on a breakdown of 51% city and 49% township of the operating budget.
- Each township's portion split based on the number of sections covered by the Fire Department.
- Fire Chief Lee Skillestad reported the 1980 tender tanker will need replacing in the next year or two; the department has had it 12 years.
- Seven new fire department members will need turnout gear at $3,500 per person.
- Steve Johnson of Richland Township asked where special donations show up in the budget; Vahlsing to check with Sue Dodds and email townships.
- Vahlsing said the County had increased property valuations substantially in the City and 2020 tax increases cannot be changed.
- Citizens directed to the Board of Appeals and Equalization meeting in April to appeal proposed 2021 valuations.
- Vahlsing told resident Peggy Halvorson the City tax may drop slightly but will not increase.
- Final budget and levy to be approved at the regular council meeting on December 12, 2019.
- Motion by Mortensen, second by Rechtzigel, to adjourn at 7:00 p.m.; carried 4-0-0.
What was asked 14 raised · 3 settled
Every question, assignment, pending figure and unsourced claim from this meeting, quoted from the record, each checked against the county, census, listing, bid and budget data we hold.
Mayor Henke called the special meeting to order at 6:00 pm. 2020 Fire Contract Meeting with Townships City Administrator Vahlsing explained that the purpose of meeting was to review the proposed 2020 contracts for fire protection with the six townships in the Kenyon Fire Department service area. The contracts are based on a breakdown of 51% city and 49% township of the operating budget.
Explanation of how the township fire contract amounts were calculated.
The 51% city / 49% township split with each township's share set by section count is the city's standing method, repeated verbatim in the packets for the 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 contracts. The 2021 worksheet shows the mechanics: 118.50 sections in the fire district, Richland 36 sections or 30.38% at $20,860, Holden 30 sections or 25.32% at $17,385, and a township total of $68,665, which implies a fire operating budget of about $140,133.
12.2.25 Special Council Meeting; 12.6.22 Special Council Meeting Minutes
The budget Peggy Halvorson of 303 Langford Avenue questioned how set the proposed tax was verses what the actual tax will be.
Citizen question during the public budget and levy discussion.
At the meetingVahlsing said the City tax may drop slightly but will not increase, and the budget is usually tight and won't change much.
The September maximum levy is a ceiling: once adopted it cannot be increased, only decreased, so the final tax is at or below the proposed figure. The 2026 cycle is the clearest example, with a 9.93% maximum approved in September 2025 cut to 9.18% in November and certified at $1,528,541; the 2027 draft opened at 19.50% on July 14 2026, fell to 10.34% on August 6, and was certified at 9.26%.
taxes/data/kenyon_tax.json; 12.9.25 Council Agenda and Packet Updated · taken up again 2025-12-09
Fire Chief Lee Skillestad summarized the Volunteer Fire Department response report with the number of calls to date in 2019. He noted that the 1980 tender tanker will need replacing in the next year or two.
Fire Chief's summary of department equipment needs during the fire contract discussion.
At the meetingNo cost estimate or purchase date given.
The tanker was replaced. The council approved purchase of a 2025-26 tanker truck from Midwest Fire on June 11, 2024, with a $10,000 Fire Relief Association down payment from the truck fund; the new 520 Tender truck was delivered in the first week of December 2025. The 1983 Chevrolet Tender was declared excess inventory on November 12, 2025 and the 1988 C70 Chevrolet Tanker went to auction in December 2025. No total purchase price appears in our records.
Later records name a 1983 Chevrolet Tender and a 1988 C70 Chevrolet Tanker, not a 1980 tender tanker.
12.9.25 Council Agenda and Packet Updated; 6.11.24 Council Packet; 11-12-25 Council Packet · taken up again 2025-12-09
Richland Township made a special donation this year and they want to make sure it is being used for its intended purpose. Administrator Vahlsing stated he would check with Sue Dodds and email the answer to the townships.
Richland Township wanted assurance its special donation was used for its intended purpose.
At the meetingNo answer given; Vahlsing committed to follow up by email.
Township donations are booked in city fund 230, SPECIAL PURPOSE DONATIONS, which carries department sub-accounts including 230-42200-36230 DONATIONS and 230-42200-36235 Donation - Donor Restricted for Fire. The record shows one documented expenditure from the Special Donation account, a $3,000 transfer to the Public Works Capital Fund for pool maintenance requested on May 10, 2022, but no entry identifying Richland Township's donation or Vahlsing's promised email to the townships.
9-8-26 Council Packet; 5.10.22 Council Packet & Agenda
Also, there are seven new members that will need turnout gear at $3,500 per person. Steve Johnson of Richland Township asked about where the special donations show up in the budget.
Richland Township made a special donation this year and wanted to confirm its intended use.
At the meetingNot answered at the meeting; Vahlsing said he would check with Sue Dodds and email the townships.
Special donations are recorded in fund 230, SPECIAL PURPOSE DONATIONS, with a revenue line under each department: Fire at 230-42200-36230 and 230-42200-36235, Library at 230-45500-36230. The fund carried $73,632.31 in 2023 activity and $42,558.35 in 2024, budgeted at $0 each year, so donations show as revenue with no budget appropriation; the specific Richland Township entry is not identified in any packet we hold.
9-9-25 Council Packet; 9-8-26 Council Packet
Mayor Henke called the special meeting to order at 6:00 pm. 2020 Fire Contract Meeting with Townships City Administrator Vahlsing explained that the purpose of meeting was to review the proposed 2020 contracts for fire protection with the six townships in the Kenyon Fire Department service area.
The special meeting was called to review the proposed 2020 township fire contracts.
At the meetingContract basis explained; no approval recorded at this meeting.
No signed 2020 township fire contract appears in the record we hold. The arrangement continued without interruption: a 2021 contract table lists all six townships totaling 118.50 sections and $68,665, and the same review process is recorded for 2023 on December 6 2022, for 2024 on December 12 2023, for 2025 on December 10 2024, and for 2026 on December 9 2025.
12.2.25 Special Council Meeting; 12.9.25 Council Agenda and Packet
The budget is usually pretty tight and won't change much. The final budget and levy will be approved at the regular council meeting on December 12, 2019.
The special meeting was a public hearing on the proposed budget and levy.
No record of the December 12, 2019 adoption of the 2020 budget and levy is in our holdings. The city's documented practice is that the final levy and budget must be adopted on or before December 30 each year, and in later years the final levy was certified at or below the September maximum: 6.8% for 2023, 8% for 2024, 9.55% for 2025, and 9.18% for 2026.
taxes/data/kenyon_tax.json; 12-13-22 Agenda; 12.12.23 Council Packet; 12.10.24 Council Packet
The department has had this tanker for 12 years. Also, there are seven new members that will need turnout gear at $3,500 per person.
Equipment costs raised in the context of the 2020 fire budget and township contracts.
No vendor quote or roster of the seven new members exists in our records. The nearest figure is the 2022 fire budget, which carried three new sets of turnout gear at $4,000 each plus one SCBA at $6,000, on a ten-year rotating replacement schedule, and the 2024 budget which funds three sets a year plus any additional gear for new firemen.
The 2022 budget prices turnout gear at $4,000 per set, not the $3,500 per person stated in 2019.
9.8.21 Work Session Minutes; 9.12.23 Council Packet & Agenda
Property valuations are reviewed at the Appeals and Equalization meeting in April. Vahlsing stated that the County had increased property valuations substantially in the City.
Explaining why tax bills were rising even though the meeting would not address valuations.
No assessor figures for the 2019 or 2020 Kenyon valuations are in our holdings. The nearest documented number is the County Assessor's report of May 10, 2022, that the average valuation increase in the City was 18.46% for the 2022 assessment payable 2023, based on 56 home sales between 10/1/2020 and 9/30/2021.
5.10.22 Council Packet & Agenda; dashboard/data/benchmarks.json
The budget Peggy Halvorson of 303 Langford Avenue questioned how set the proposed tax was verses what the actual tax will be. Administrator Vahlsing stated that the City tax may drop slightly, but it will not increase.
Answer to a citizen's question about the difference between proposed and final tax.
The budget calendar confirms the structural half of the claim: the maximum proposed levy is adopted by the end of September and after that it cannot be increased, only decreased, with the final levy and budget adopted by the end of December. The final adopted 2020 levy and the certified proposed figure it would be compared against are not in our records; the earliest certified levies we hold are 2025 $1,400,000 preliminary (+9.55%), 2026 $1,528,541 (+9.18%) and 2027 preliminary $1,670,115 (+9.26%).
8-20-24_AGENDA; taxes/data/kenyon_tax.json
He told the attending citizens that they could appeal proposed assessed valuations for 2021 next April at the Board of Appeals and Equalization. meeting.
Vahlsing told citizens the 2020 valuations could not be changed because they were valued last April.
The April 2020 Board of Appeal and Equalization date is not in our records; the next dates on file are Thursday April 15 2021 at 5:00 pm and Thursday April 14 2022 at 5:00 pm, each requiring at least three council members including one state-certified member. The thread ended in 2023: the Goodhue County Assessor's Office held the April 20 2023 board and has run Kenyon's valuation review as an open book since then because no council member holds the required training.
5.9.23_Council_Packet_and_Agenda; KENYON_DATA_IN_MEETINGS.md · taken up again 2023-05-09
He noted that the 1980 tender tanker will need replacing in the next year or two. The department has had this tanker for 12 years.
Background on the age and service life of the tanker slated for replacement.
No fire department equipment acquisition record is in our holdings, so the 12-year service claim cannot be checked. Fire department apparatus purchase or transfer documents showing the acquisition date of the tender would answer it.
would settle it: Fire department equipment acquisition records
Fire Chief Lee Skillestad summarized the Volunteer Fire Department response report with the number of calls to date in 2019.
Fire Chief presented the Volunteer Fire Department response report at the contract meeting.
At the meetingReport presented but the count is not in the record.
No count of 2019 Kenyon Volunteer Fire Department calls is in the factbook or in any later council document we hold. The written 2019 response report, or a later packet reprinting annual call totals, would answer it.
would settle it: The written 2019 Volunteer Fire Department response report
Richland Township made a special donation this year and they want to make sure it is being used for its intended purpose.
Raised during review of the 2020 township fire contracts.
At the meetingVahlsing agreed to check with Sue Dodds and email the townships.
Nothing in the factbook or the later packets records a special Richland Township donation or how it was spent. What we hold on Richland is its fire contract share: 36 sections, 30.38% of the township allocation, $20,860 under the 2021 contract, under a 51% city / 49% township split of the fire operating budget. The email Vahlsing agreed to send after checking with Sue Dodds, or a fund ledger showing the restricted donation, would answer it.
12.2.25_Special_Council_Meeting · would settle it: Accounting record showing the restricted use of the Richland Township donation
Decisions 1 motions
| Motion | Moved / seconded | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Adjourn the meeting at 7:00 p.m | Mortensen / Rechtzigel | 4-0-0 |
Who did what
| Person | At this meeting |
|---|---|
| Doug Henke Mayor | Called the special meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and presided. |
| Dan Rechtzigel Council member | Present; seconded the motion to adjourn. |
| John Mortensen Council member | Present; moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:00 p.m. |
| Tom Gard Council member | Present for the special meeting. |
| Mark Vahlsing City Administrator | Explained the purpose of the meeting and the 51%/49% fire contract split; addressed property valuations and the proposed 2020 budget and levy; agreed to check on township donations with Sue Dodds. |
| Holli Gudknecht Administrative Assistant | Present and recorded the minutes. |
| Lee Skillestad Fire Chief | Summarized the Volunteer Fire Department response report and 2019 call numbers; flagged tanker replacement and turnout gear costs. |
| Wayne Ehrich Assistant Fire Chief | Present at the meeting. |
| Steve Johnson Richland Township representative | Asked where special donations show up in the budget and sought assurance the township's donation was used as intended. |
| Peggy Halvorson Citizen, 303 Langford Avenue | Questioned how the proposed tax compared with the actual tax. |
| Sue Dodds City staff (referenced) | Named as the person Vahlsing would consult about the township donation question. |
| Bob Noah Citizen | Attended the meeting. |
| Rosie Floren Citizen | Attended the meeting. |
| Bonnie Schuster Citizen | Attended the meeting. |
| Marilyn Schaper Citizen | Attended the meeting. |
| Jim Donkers Township representative | Attended the fire contract discussion. |
| Barb St. John Township representative | Attended the fire contract discussion. |
| Keith Allen Township representative | Attended the fire contract discussion. |
| Larry Madsen Township representative | Attended the fire contract discussion. |
| Joyce Anderson Township representative | Attended the fire contract discussion. |
| Sean Bauer Township representative | Attended the fire contract discussion. |
Organizations named: City of Kenyon, Kenyon Fire Department, Kenyon Volunteer Fire Department, Richland Township, Goodhue County (referenced as 'the County'), Board of Appeals and Equalization
Figures
| Amount | What |
|---|---|
| $3,500 | cost per person for turnout gear for seven new fire department members |
Said at the meeting
The contracts are based on a breakdown of 51% city and 49% township of the operating budget.
Mark Vahlsing, City Administrator · minutes, verbatim
He noted that the 1980 tender tanker will need replacing in the next year or two.
Minutes (re: Fire Chief Lee Skillestad) · minutes, verbatim
Richland Township made a special donation this year and they want to make sure it is being used for its intended purpose.
Minutes (re: Steve Johnson, Richland Township) · minutes, verbatim
Administrator Vahlsing stated that the City tax may drop slightly, but it will not increase.
Mark Vahlsing, City Administrator · minutes, verbatim
The final budget and levy will be approved at the regular council meeting on December 12, 2019.
Minutes · minutes, verbatim
The minutes
Official minutes as adopted, from 12.3.19 Special Council Mtg minutes; text extracted from the PDF.
Council meeting was duly held in the City Council chambers at 6:00 p.m. on the 3th day of December, 2019.
- Present
- Mayor Doug Henke, council members, Dan Rechtzigel, John Mortensen, and Tom Gard
- Also present
- City Administrator Mark Vahlsing, Administrative Assistant Holli Gudknecht, Fire Chief Lee Skillestad and Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Ehrich. Citizens: Bob Noah, Rosie Floren, Bonnie Schuster, Marilyn Schaper, and Peggy Halvorson Township representatives: Jim Donkers, Steve Johnson, Barb St. John, Keith Allen, Larry Madsen, Joyce Anderson, and Sean Bauer
Mayor Henke called the special meeting to order at 6:00 pm.
2020 Fire Contract Meeting with Townships City Administrator Vahlsing explained that the purpose of meeting was to review the proposed 2020 contracts for fire protection with the six townships in the Kenyon Fire Department service area. The contracts are based on a breakdown of 51% city and 49% township of the operating budget. Each township's portion of the budget is split based on the number of sections covered by the Fire Department.
Fire Chief Lee Skillestad summarized the Volunteer Fire Department response report with the number of calls to date in 2019. He noted that the 1980 tender tanker will need replacing in the next year or two. The department has had this tanker for 12 years. Also, there are seven new members that will need turnout gear at $3,500 per person.
Steve Johnson of Richland Township asked about where the special donations show up in the budget. Richland Township made a special donation this year and they want to make sure it is being used for its intended purpose. Administrator Vahlsing stated he would check with Sue Dodds and email the answer to the townships.
Public Budget and Levy discussion
Administrator Vahlsing stated that this meeting was designed for citizens who had questions about the proposed budget and levy for 2020. This meeting would not address property valuation increases. Property valuations are reviewed at the Appeals and Equalization meeting in April. Vahlsing stated that the County had increased property valuations substantially in the City. The present tax increases are unable to be changed for 2020 since those were valuated last April. He told the attending citizens that they could appeal proposed assessed valuations for 2021 next April at the Board of Appeals and Equalization. meeting. The budget
Peggy Halvorson of 303 Langford Avenue questioned how set the proposed tax was verses what the actual tax will be. Administrator Vahlsing stated that the City tax may drop slightly, but it will not increase. The budget is usually pretty tight and won't change much.
The final budget and levy will be approved at the regular council meeting on December 12, 2019.
Motion by Mortensen second by Rechtzigel to adjourn the meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Motion carried 4-0-0