Dear Devils Lake,
Devils Lake voters will head to the polls on July 22, 2025 for a vote to increase the City’s sales tax 0.5%. Much of the funding would be directed toward ensuring the level of public safety services that are currently provided in the City of Devils Lake can continue long-term, as well as City facility projects, which would include the relocation of the Police Department.
I am proud of the public safety services we provide. However, it is clear that it will be hard to continue without additional revenue sources in the City’s General Fund.
In 2010, we had 16 police officers, 10 police vehicles, and five firefighters. Today we have 20 police officers, 14 vehicles, and seven firefighters. Despite those increases in service delivery, the population of Devils Lake has remained the same in that time period. Some of these increases come from investments in our school resource officer partnership with the Devils Lake School District, and the Fire Department’s assumption of the air rescue firefighting mission at the Devils Lake Regional Airport.
The City is spending more for public safety than it brings in from property tax, general fund sales tax, and state aid. We will struggle to pay for this long-term without an additional revenue stream. This means that without the sales tax, either public safety services will need to be reduced through attrition over time, or revenue raised.
I truly believe the citizens of Devils Lake desire this level of public safety service to continue.
There are avenues to explore continued funding for these services, but all involve revenue sources that would come from exclusively City residents and businesses. For example, revenue sources that are used to keep utility rates among the lowest in the upper Midwest could be diverted to the general fund, which would in turn dictate an increase in utility rates.
Those familiar with the development patterns in the Lake Region know the numerous and significant housing developments just outside city limits. Not to mention the tourist destination we have become due to the recreational opportunities our wonderful region provides. The City is trying to provide a public safety service level for a town of 10,000 people, but only 7,200 reside in City limits.
What is the proper way to fund general services like public safety in a community like Devils Lake given those factors? In my view, sales tax is the most appropriate. Revenue to continue this level of service can come from only Devils Lake citizens through the means listed above, or everyone in the region via sales tax.
In addition, I am a large proponent of relocating our Police Department outside of the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center. There is no better location than downtown. We can solidify the downtown district as a safe, prosperous place to be. Making the downtown the heartbeat of our police department operations would only assist in that initiative.
We understand that the citizens of Devils Lake have made recent community investments with the approvals of the ambulance service tax district, school bond referendum, and park district sales tax. That is why this proposal should be viewed as a strategic shift, where the City is proposing waiving partially or completely the $9 water source replacement fee that is on each utility account. On a .5% sales tax, a resident or household would need to spend over $21,600 on taxable goods to pay more for City services than they do now should the entire $9 fee be eliminated.
In the end, Devils Lake is unique.
We’re a regional and tourist hub, and the economy and development patterns in the area show that the most equitable funding source for the City’s general operations is sales tax.
Devils Lake should primarily fund itself via sales tax – but must be responsible in doing so. We have put forward a prudent and strategic plan forward for the consideration of the citizens of Devils Lake – one that supports our public safety services, invests in our public facility needs, provides relief to City residents, and leaves a little funding remaining to hedge against further exposure to market forces.
Let’s embrace the regional development patterns and recreational assets of the area and finance the City in a way that makes sense for Devils Lake.
Sincerely,
Jim Moe, Mayor, City of Devils Lake
Verified by phone – LAO – July 15, 2025
