Star Tribune
Minneapolis police overtime expected to hit $26 million in 2024
The Minneapolis Police Department is on track to rack up $26 million in overtime this year — about $10 million over budget — as the number of extra hours officers work continues since a flood of officers left the force after George Floyd’s 2020 police killing and unrest that ensued.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara provided the OT figure to City Council members during a budget presentation Thursday in which he added that the department has about 210 vacancies.
“We’re using overtime every day to do the most basic functions of a police department,” he said. “It is critically low staffing right now.”
Last year, MPD paid nearly $23 million in overtime — about half of that “critical staffing overtime,” in which officers are paid double their hourly wage.
Overtime is being driven by a wave of resignations and retirements at the department, which had 578 sworn officers as of Thursday, down from nearly 900 in 2019, a 36% decrease that has left it with one of the nation’s lowest ratios of officers to residents.
MPD was averaging about $7 million in overtime prior to 2020, when it shot up to $11 million and has increased every year since, reaching $23 million last year.
Mayor Jacob Frey has proposed a $230 million budget for MPD next year, a 6% increase from 2024, or $13.7 million. Of that, $13 million is budgeted for “constitutional policing” to comply with a state human rights settlement. State and federal officials are forcing the police department into court-sanctioned monitoring for civil rights violations.
Most of that goes to personnel, which comprises 77% of the budget, according to MPD Finance Director Vicki Troswick. The mayor proposes 966 full-time total MPD employees next year, compared to 935 this year. Of those, 731 sworn officers are budgeted for 2025. The city charter requires the city to employ 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, or 731 officers, although the city has struggling to reach that number amid a nationwide law enforcement staffing shortage.
ROCHESTER – The biggest venue here will technically have new operators in 2025, though there likely won’t be staff changes.
Experience Rochester has switched operating companies, ending a contract with venue specialists ASM Global and expanding a contract with its food and beverage vendor Oak View Group. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) revealed Friday that 146 workers would be affected by the switch.
ASM Global notified DEED officials last month that it planned to lay off its staff running the Civic Center. Experience Rochester said in a statement Friday that Oak View Group plans to rehire and retain all employees once it takes over operations in January, “ensuring continuity and a seamless transition for our staff and our guests.”
The Mayo Civic Center has been a Rochester fixture since 1939, though it’s expanded over the years. It boasts almost 200,000 square feet of space, can seat up to 7,200 people in its arena and claims to be the largest event facility in southern Minnesota.
A head-on crash of pickup trucks on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota killed both drivers, officials said.
The collision occurred about 8:50 a.m. Thursday just west of Britt in the 9100 block of Biss Road, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said.
Frank Bertram Ratliff, 76, Angora, Minn., was driving east on Biss and appeared to have drifted onto the shoulder to the right, overcorrected and struck a westbound pickup being driven by Steven Craig Shoden 69, of Virginia, Minn., the Sheriff’s Office said.
Emergency responders declared both men dead at the scene.
Architect Paul Ormseth wanted a project, and the bluff of St. Paul felt like the perfect place.
Between overgrown bushes and shrubs, right in the middle of 77 steep steps connecting pedestrian traffic between St. Paul’s Grand Avenue and Lawton Street, Ormseth discovered the foundation from an old house. Standing on the lot with views of the Mississippi River valley and High Bridge, Ormseth decided to build.
Today, the home spans 1,410 square feet and is on the market for the first time. Current owner — former editor of the Growler Magazine Joseph Alton — is selling the beloved property he spent more than a decade in to focus on his Wisconsin farm full time. Built in 2008, it’s much newer than the historic mansions surrounding it and a fraction of the price at $489,500.
The two-bedroom, one-bathroom house in the Summit Hill neighborhood is one of a kind, said listing agent Anna Garnaas-Halvorson.
“People are either going to love it and want it and be willing to pay for it. Or they don’t want to carry their groceries down the steps to the house,” Garnaas-Halvorson said. “It’s probably the most unique house ever. I almost feel like I’m in a tree house in there, and I love how it’s so cozy in its spaces.”
While the new owner will have to trek up and down the stairs regularly, the city actually maintains the stairs, including shoveling in winter. But some potential drawbacks are because of the home’s location, there is no street address (70 Lawton Steps is what goes on mail), no garage and only street parking available, the closest being at the top of the stairs along South Lawton Street.
That’s also where the mailbox is, though Amazon delivery drivers seem to always brave the steps to drop packages right at the front door. DoorDashers, however, often have a hard time finding the place.
But with an open floor plan and plenty of seating available in the courtyard, the home has been a host’s dream, Alton said.
