City Manager Rebecca Grill presented the City of Oshkosh's proposed 2026 budget in a council briefing, saying the proposal holds the municipal tax levy at $47,000,000 while reallocating special-revenue fund balances into the general fund and funding targeted capital and technology investments.

"Thanks. I'm Rebecca Grill, the city manager. Here with Julie Thomas and Denise Edwards to talk about the budget," Grill said at the start of the presentation, noting the work staff put into the draft. She told the council that "75% of our budget is salary and benefits," underscoring personnel costs as the largest budget driver.

Why it matters: the draft aims to keep the levy flat while narrowing a previously projected $6.1 million deficit through a mix of cost containment, updated revenue estimates, and one-time fund-balance transfers. The proposal also packages administrative reorganization, new software and citizen-facing platforms, several park and facility capital requests, and major public-safety technology contracts for council consideration.

Key budget moves and context

Levy and municipal revenues: The administration recommends maintaining the same $47,000,000 tax levy used in the prior year. Grill said staff learned shortly before the briefing that the city's municipal services payment — a state payment in lieu of taxes for state-owned facilities that offsets police and fire costs — will be larger than previously estimated. "We were estimating an increase of 300,000, but at noon today, we got notification that we're getting 1,700,000 instead of 1.4," she said, calling the additional roughly $300,000 an unexpected but positive adjustment to revenue projections.

Fund balance and expenditure restraint: The draft assumes a reduced general‑fund draw from fund balance (about $1.1 million, down from $1.5 million in an earlier version) and consolidates several special-revenue funds (for example, museum, senior center, and street lighting) back into the general fund to present a more complete picture of tax-levy–supported activity. Staff emphasized levy-limit constraints under state rules (net-new-construction adjustments and debt adjustments) and said maintaining the $47,000,000 levy would change the debt adjustment required on the levy-limit worksheet but preserve the net-new-construction allowance.

Taxes and taxpayer impact: Finance staff presented preliminary estimates tied to the 2024 revaluation. Based on current numbers, the projected city tax rate would fall from about $8.14 per $1,000 of assessed value to roughly $7.73, which was estimated to translate to an approximate $91 decrease on a $225,000 house for the city portion of the bill. The administration cautioned these were projections, not final assessments.

Organizational changes and technology investments

Reorganization and communications: The proposed budget creates a communications and engagement division by shifting staff who perform those functions into the city manager's office and Oshkosh Media. Grill said the change is intended to improve cross‑departmental alignment and citizen-facing communication.

Customer platforms and GIS: The administration is budgeting for an outward-facing citizen-service platform and other web redesign work. Tony Newman, the city's IT manager, said the city will move to a common customer-engagement platform and that "a GIS hub" with public-facing capabilities is planned for fiscal 2026.

Police technology and evidence/storage: The police department described a multi‑year contract with Axon that would consolidate body cameras, evidence storage and a suite of software tools. Police leadership said the contract includes unlimited evidence storage, automated transcription and redaction tools, GPS live-streaming to improve officer safety, a Draft 1 feature to accelerate report writing, and training and virtual-reality components. Chief Smith summarized the department's view: "This is truly gonna be a game changer for us moving on," citing time savings and new capabilities that staff say will improve efficiency and officer safety.

Public safety staffing and apparatus: Fire leadership reported ongoing efforts to fill vacancies, an expanding cadet program intended to boost recruitment pipelines, and a multi‑year apparatus replacement plan. Fire apparatus build times and rising unit costs were noted as constraints; staff said they are placing orders years in advance to match long manufacturer lead times.

Capital projects and program details

Public-safety training facility: Staff issued an RFP for consulting on a joint public-safety training facility; consultants responded and staff expect to review proposals and proceed with needs assessment and planning. Council members asked for more detail about scope and cost estimates before committing to large capital numbers.

Parks and recreation capital requests: Parks officials highlighted completed work (play-equipment replacements, tennis/pickleball court conversions, trail restorations) and proposed items for 2026, including Quarry Park development, REITs North ball-field light replacement, and recurring allocations for zoo and park improvements. Parks staff noted an operational change: the Menominee Park on‑track train would be replaced with an on‑land train to allow expanded seven‑day operations and longer routes; the train vehicle price was discussed as roughly $100,000 with community fundraising nearly covering acquisition costs.

Museum and collections: The museum will move operating activity into the general fund and reported a continuing NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) project with anticipated tribal consultations and a funded collections assistant through 2029 to meet federal deadlines.

Transportation and grants: Staff reported receipt of a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant for a pedestrian bridge project over U.S. 41 and said the grant is roughly 80% federal. The project concept described would include long ADA-compliant ramps on one side and stairs on the other; council asked staff to return with plans, a full cost breakdown (including any right‑of‑way or land‑acquisition needs), and more visuals before directing work or funding in the 2026 CIP.

Budget risks and next steps

Personnel costs and constraints: With personnel consuming about three-quarters of the general fund, staff flagged recruitment and retention as ongoing pressures. The budget assumes continued health/dental cost containment (a 0% increase was budgeted for 2026) and uses vacancy assumptions to limit full‑pay budgeting in large departments.

Timing and council actions: Staff presented the draft for council discussion and noted the need for follow-up meetings if the council wants deeper review of capital or grant‑tied projects. Several council members asked for detailed memos and visuals on multi‑million-dollar projects (the public-safety training facility and the SS4A bridge) before any final commitment. No formal council vote on the 2026 budget was recorded during the presentation; the document before council is a staff proposal that will return for formal consideration and public hearing under the council's adopted process.

Quotes from meeting participants are drawn from the council briefing and attributed to the named speakers.

Ending: Staff asked the council whether it wanted an additional meeting to dig into capital projects before the public hearing schedule; council members requested supplemental materials and visuals on the largest proposed capital items before final action.