City finance staff presented the city's property‑tax calculations and recommended using the voter‑approval tax rate as the basis for the fiscal‑year 2026 budget, while asking council whether to allocate a one‑time unused tax increment to street repairs.

At a workshop presentation, Finance Director Aaron Bovis walked council through three rate options: the no‑new‑revenue rate, the statutory voter‑approval rate, and the voter‑approval rate plus an unused prior‑year increment. Staff said the voter‑approval rate column (about 0.5717881) is their recommendation for programming the proposed budget. Staff also showed that using the unused prior‑year increment (a one‑time 3–4 cent bump to roughly 0.6136011) could generate roughly $500,000–$1.4 million that staff proposed dedicating to the street capital improvement program rather than to ongoing operations.

Why it matters: staff emphasized the difference between recurring and one‑time revenue. The city already plans to use fund balance this fiscal year; staff cautioned against funding recurring costs with one‑time sums and recommended dedicating any one‑time unused increment specifically to streets to produce visible capital work for the community.

Staff gave council numerical detail: the current adopted tax rate for fiscal 2025 was 0.5732; the no‑new‑revenue calculation produced a lower rate (about 0.5521916) that still increased net revenue due to digest growth; and the voter‑approval rate would yield an average homeowner increase in the city portion of roughly $21.53 on a median home value of $178,838. Staff said a vote will be needed on August 19 to set the property‑tax public hearing and the budget public hearing and to move a proposed tax rate to publication; final adoption is scheduled for the September meeting.

Council direction and next steps: staff asked for council feedback on two points: whether to program the budget using the voter‑approval rate and whether to apply any unused prior‑year increment solely to the street CIP. Staff repeatedly noted the unused increment is a one‑time increase; if the council uses it this year it does not create a recurring increase and the increment falls off in subsequent calculations.

What was not decided: council did not adopt a final tax rate during the workshop; no formal motion or vote occurred in the presentation segment.

Provenance: topic begins in the transcript where Finance Director Aaron Bovis presents tax calculations and ends where staff moves on to supplemental request totals.