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Committee approves recommending appropriations of unanticipated revenues into reserve accounts for FY2026 tax recap
Summary
The Finance Committee recommended two orders appropriating unappropriated anticipated enterprise and general-fund revenues into reserve accounts to meet the Oct. 1 deadline for the FY2026 tax recap and closing; committee members discussed that transfers from reserves to budget lines would require council votes for transparency.
Mayor Nicholson and administration staff asked the Finance Committee to recommend two orders to the full council to appropriate unappropriated anticipated revenues into reserve accounts for enterprise funds and the general fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025. The mayor said the appropriations are necessary to meet tax-recap requirements and to finalize FY2025 closeouts; "all unappropriated anticipated revenues have to be appropriated by October 1 in order for us to be able to meet the tax recap requirements," he said.
Staff explained that placing funds into reserve accounts is a common practice to establish a final bottom-line number for the budget; transfers out of those reserve accounts into salaries or other line items would require separate council action, which the administration described as a transparency best practice. A committee member who had worked in municipal finance confirmed that reserve-account transfers should involve a council vote for clarity.
A motion to recommend items 11689 and 11690 to full council passed on a roll call of committee members present. The assistant clerk recorded affirmative votes from Councilor Durnell Alex, Councilor Hegland and Councilor Mack. The measures will proceed to the full council for final adoption and inclusion in the FY2026 tax recap process.
