Fairview budget committee approves FY 2025-26 city budget; committee endorses new fees and utility rate increases

The Fairview budget committee voted to approve the city's proposed fiscal year 2025-26 budget following public hearings and extended deliberations, including discussion of new fees, utility rate increases and several staffing additions.

Committee members approved the budget after staff presentations that reallocated previously dispersed administrative costs into centralized internal-service funds and corrected several line-item errors in the initial draft. The budget committee also voted to levy the city's permanent property-tax rate and to accept state shared revenues required for transportation and general fund purposes.

Key budget proposals approved by the committee include a proposed public-safety fee of $15 per household and a proposed parks fee of $5 per household. City staff proposed an 8% increase in water, sewer and stormwater rates to address rising operating and capital costs; staff said fees have not been raised since 2021 and that deferred maintenance has pushed up the cost of repairs. The budget also proposes modest property-tax revenue growth tied to a 2.91% assessed-value increase and a 94% collection rate assumption.

Personnel and organizational changes are a significant part of the proposed budget. Staff identified three new positions: a human-resources assistant, an economic-development specialist and a combined water/sewer/street lead-worker; a current 0.5 FTE code-enforcement officer would be increased to full time. The facilities-maintenance fund would include a facilities manager position to oversee city buildings and deferred maintenance work. The budget also formalizes an information-technology fund, centralizing previously scattered IT expenses.

Finance staff said the proposed general fund still spends down reserves: staff estimate the general fund would start the year with about $2.8 million and end near $1.8 million under the proposed plan. The city manager and finance director warned the committee the structure was not yet sustainable long-term and that the fee proposals, other revenue options and restructured costs were intended to propel the city toward a more sustainable position.

Budget committee members pushed staff for more transparency and detail in several areas. Several members asked for clearer line-item detail to make year-over-year comparisons easier; staff replied they will provide supplemental schedules and offered one-on-one walk-throughs. After short breaks to fetch supplemental pages, staff answered questions about miscellaneous revenue, recreation fund partnerships, and the materials and services breakdown for the Food Cart Plaza (the "fork") and other operations.

The package of budget actions approved by the committee included: a motion accepting state shared revenues for fiscal year 2025-26; a motion to levy the city's permanent property tax rate (as a levy calculation rather than a rate change); and final adoption of the proposed spending plan. The final vote on the city budget was carried by the committee with one member opposed.