What were Hutchinson police up to in 2020? Did the city receive any grants that year? Were any new businesses welcomed into the community?
The answers to these questions and numerous others can be found in a new document that went live from the city of Hutchinson this past week — The 2020 Annual City Report. Find it at tinyurl.com/hutchinsonreport or through the city’s Facebook page.
“This is kind of our first-go,” Matt Jaunich, city administrator, told the City Council. “There is still some work I want to do on it.”
He said the report has been a goal of his for a few years, and it represents the first of its kind in Hutchinson’s history so far as he is aware. Every year, the City Council receives reports from each department, as well as plenty of other information. The annual city report compiles that data into one source with about 150 pages. Also available in the report is information on tax rates, and how they compare to other cities.
In 2020, Hutchinson’s tax rate was 66.47%, below the state average of 75.74%. The average for regional centers such as Willmar, Fergus Falls and New Ulm was 58.6%.
“One of the things that frustrates me the most is roughly 90% of what I hear out in public about what we do here is factually inaccurate,” Jaunich said. “And so how are we going to try and properly educate the public about what we do here? This is just one step.”
The report, which was compiled by administrative coordinator Melissa Starke and department heads, will be built upon in coming years. Jaunich said he also hopes it will come out sooner in future years and help residents avoid having to look up 10 reports for 10 departments.
“While COVID saw our unemployment rate peak at 8.2% in May, we have recovered to post an unemployment rate at 4.1% in November and 4.8% in December, basically the same level it was at pre-pandemic,” reads one portion of the report’s executive summary. “Unemployment rates in Hutchinson continue to remain lower than the state (4.9%) and federal (6.5%) percentages. Vacancy rates for our market rate rental units also continue to be at historic lows and our median sales price of our residential homes continue to rise, having increased from $175,000 last year to $200,000 through the end of 2020, the eighth straight year of an increase.”
In addition to data from the city’s departments, the report also discusses community surveys, the city’s organization, partnerships, awards, and broad indicators of health.
Did you know Hutchinson’s median household income for 2020 was $57,672, above the average ($56,606) for regional centers. The percent of the city’s population below the poverty line is 9%, the same as the state average and six percentage points below the average for regional centers in the state.
“One of the goals I had was to be a little bit more transparent to the public,” Jaunich said.
