Two residents used the workshop public-comment period to press the council on budgeting and staffing.

Martha Sanchez (217 Voigt) opened public comments by saying she supported a tax increase to maintain services and criticized what she described as previous budget practices that, in her view, deferred necessary reserves and masked true operating costs. Sanchez urged the council to post the city’s comprehensive annual financial report for 2024 online; she told council the most recent report available on the city website was 2023 and asked that 2024 be posted without requiring an open-records request.

Resident Tanya Cummings (129 Grand Oak) thanked the council and mayor for selecting Janette (Janette/Janette Huggins) as the new city secretary. Cummings said Huggins had performed extensive financial and administrative work through a period of staff turnover and recommended the council consider additional cross-training or a part-time financial assistant to support the position. Cummings also urged council to maintain the deer manager budget so Sergeant Bass — the current deer manager whom she praised for training and wildlife experience — can continue handling deer-related calls.

Both speakers said they favored the budget increase under discussion: Sanchez framed the increase as a necessary step to build reserves and avoid deferred capital needs; Cummings said she supported the tax increase and urged the council to ensure adequate staff support to maintain financial operations.

Council members acknowledged the comments and asked staff to post audited financials and to provide additional documentation that would help residents evaluate reserve levels and the relationship between one-time revenues (special funds) and recurring operations.