Dr. Seeglass told the Board of Health that the health department’s proposed 2026 budget reduces projected program revenue after an overestimate of tourist rooming-house licenses and includes fee increases to close the gap.

The changes matter because they affect inspection and licensing fees paid by local businesses and will cover new recurring costs, including a software license and year-over-year compensation increases, Dr. Seeglass said.

Department staff said projected program revenues fell because the office will not reach an overly optimistic estimate of tourist rooming‑house licenses issued in 2025. Program expenses are projected to rise about 4.7%, mostly from compensation increases, and purchase‑of‑services costs include a new annual software license under the Agronicus contract. Dr. Seeglass said the department tailored the 2026 revenue projection to that lower expectation.

Staff also highlighted enforcement success tied to the lower license projections: the department found about 50 tourist rooming houses operating without licenses and brought them into compliance, which “translates into 50 housing units that have been put back into the local housing market,” Dr. Seeglass said. He framed that as a positive outcome of enforcement even though it reduced fee revenue.

To close the remaining gap, the department proposes incremental increases in several license and fee schedules. Dr. Seeglass said many of the increases involve programs administered under state agreements (DATCP and DSPS) where the department is below the statutory ceiling on recoverable revenue; the department is roughly $30,000–$40,000 below the ceiling for those programs and is proposing modest increases as part of its annual fee adjustments.

Weights and measures revenue reached budget neutrality last year, and the department now uses a tiered daily rate for consortium partners (tier 1, tier 2, tier 3) to reflect differences in workload among municipalities; the contract daily rate is about $850–$900 and the department offers a 6.5‑hour workday versus a 5‑hour state workday, staff said. The only weights‑and‑measures fee increase noted in the packet was for petroleum pump inspections, from $30 to $40 per pump, and the department said the consortium partners have adopted the same schedule across participating communities.

Alderperson Wolf questioned whether higher hotel/motel license fees would raise prices for people using short‑term lodging, including some who are experiencing homelessness. “Do you think raising the rates on motels are going to increase prices for those motels for people to stay at in short term or long term?” Wolf asked. Dr. Seeglass replied, “I don’t believe so,” and explained that increases such as an example move from $590 to $679 for a license are unlikely to be passed on by large corporate chains and that overall business cost increases are the more common driver of price changes.

The nursing budget includes an internal reclassification of hours where funds were moved from part‑time wages into full‑time wages as positions were converted; staff noted that the 2025 amended budget line for part‑time wages should have reflected that change. The department also plans to replace a large fuel trailer, budgeted through capital (CEA) funds, with a replacement expected in 2027 while keeping the existing unit as backup.

No formal board vote on the health budget occurred; the chair asked whether a motion to approve to council was needed and then confirmed the body does not have to approve it. The department will present the fee schedule changes to the city council as council‑set fees where required.

The packet lists those proposed 2026 fee changes (pages 18–19 of the materials) and notes the department’s view that even the proposed increases do not fully cover implementation costs for some council‑set programs, such as beekeeping and chicken‑keeping inspections. Staff said they will continue incremental fee adjustments to stay closer to actual costs and to preserve service levels.