Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City manager presents FY2026 proposed budget; council opens public hearing and schedules adoption
Summary
City staff presented the proposed fiscal-year budget, holding the tax rate steady and proposing employee pay adjustments. Council opened a public hearing and accepted public comment opportunities; the budget is scheduled for adoption at a future council meeting.
City staff presented the proposed city budget for the coming fiscal year, and the council opened the public hearing on the plan.
The city manager and budget staff described a proposal that maintains the current property tax rate at $0.47 per $100 of assessed value and does not use an appropriation of fund balance. The draft budget sets aside a compensation pool equal to a 4% across‑the‑board increase that would take effect in January 2026 and continues a career development incentive program. Staff also noted higher employer retirement costs, increased transit and micro-transit funding needs, and higher equipment replacement costs. The presentation said the adopted proposed budget is lean and that staff reduced the initial requests by more than $5.7 million during development.
The fee schedule in the proposed budget includes a 5% increase in water and sewer rates (a prior phase at 7.5% was already implemented) and other fee adjustments at the Shield Museum, airport, fire department and in planning and engineering fees tied to a cost-recovery approach.
Staff said the proposed citywide budget decreased from the current fiscal year total by roughly $12.7 million when certain grant and capital figures are compared across budgets, and explained that fluctuations reflect changing grant awards and capital construction timing rather than ongoing operating cuts.
Council opened the public hearing on the proposed budget to receive public comment; council members discussed whether to keep the hearing open until the June adoption meeting to allow additional public input, and ultimately proceeded with the standard public‑hearing process. Adoption of the budget is scheduled for the council’s June meeting. Staff said the document has been available to the public online and that additional public-comment opportunities will be available before adoption.
The presenter noted staff will continue to refine position-classification and compensation details within the approved compensation pool, and directed departments to prepare for implementation consistent with council policy priorities.
