City Council holds public hearings on proposed FY25-26 budget and tax rate

The City Council opened public hearings Sept. 16 on the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget and a proposed property tax rate, hearing public comments that both supported a modest tax increase to balance the budget and opposed cuts to services such as trash and recycling pickup.

The hearings matter because the council is considering a tax-rate change tied to the budget that residents say will directly affect household costs and service levels. Council officials said no vote would be taken at the special meeting; the regular council meeting later that evening will address final action.

Residents and an emailed commenter expressed differing views during the hearings. A resident who addressed the council praised staff and department leaders for trimming spending and indicated willingness to accept a tax increase to balance the budget. “The police and fire departments really trimmed their budgets to the bone and helped balance it,” the resident said, and added that they “can support a tax increase to 0.48705, but do not support the sanitation expense shift to the residents.” The resident also offered estimated impacts: “On a $500,000 home … it looks like it’s around $82 per year,” and said an estimated sanitation charge to residents would be “around $276 per year,” but acknowledged that the sanitation figure “we're not really sure on.”

Tanya Cummings of 129 Grand Oak also spoke in support of the proposed budget and asked the council to approve the Economic Development Corporation’s original request, which she said included a vehicle for fire and police. “I want to support the budget totally,” Cummings said, and urged council members to back the EDC request for the vehicle for fire and police.

The council staff read an email from Ruth Funk of Rua De Mara opposing a property tax increase and any reduction of essential city services. Funk wrote that many neighbors are elderly and live on fixed incomes and that “higher property taxes would be an unbearable burden.” She urged the council to “control expenses, cut waste, and prioritize spending before turning to taxpayers” and to continue soliciting resident input.

Council members opened and closed the hearings without taking votes. The presiding official announced the public hearing on the proposed FY25-26 budget was closed, then opened a separate public hearing on the proposed tax rate — described during the meeting as an increase from an approximate current rate of $4.06 per $100 of valuation to roughly $4.07 (the transcript also records the figure 0.48705 cited by a speaker). After hearing no further in-person comments, the council closed the tax-rate hearing and adjourned the special session; the regular council meeting was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Discussion items recorded in the hearings included appreciation for department budget reductions, a resident endorsement of a tax increase to avoid deeper cuts, a resident objection to shifting sanitation expenses onto households, a request from a resident to fund a vehicle for public safety through the EDC request, and written opposition citing the burden on fixed-income residents. No formal motions, votes, or policy decisions were made at the special meeting.

Next steps: the council indicated it will take formal action on the budget and tax rate at the regular meeting later the same evening. Residents and stakeholders who provided comments asked for full disclosure of any plan to shift sanitation costs to residents before the council would consider such a change.

(Article compiled from public hearing remarks and an emailed public comment provided at the Sept. 16 special meeting.)