Seat Pleasant presents proposed FY2026 budget, council given options on personal property tax rate

Seat Pleasant — Interim City Manager Demetrius Harris and finance staff presented a proposed FY2026 budget of $14,185,232 to the Seat Pleasant City Council at the city’s April 7 work session, and outlined revenue assumptions, proposed priorities and a recommendation to reduce the city’s personal property tax rate to 10 percent.

The presentation focused on conservative revenue estimates, the timing of grant awards and possible changes tied to federal layoffs and automated enforcement contracts. “I think it’s unconventional, for a non elected official to put a budget together and to present it to the legislators for review,” Interim City Manager Demetrius Harris said, arguing the council should consider who presents future budgets. Finance director Ms. Logan summarized projections and explained the effects of different personal property tax-rate scenarios.

Why it matters: The numbers presented will guide the public hearings scheduled for April 14 (virtual) and April 19 (hybrid) and form the baseline for council amendments. The city’s revenue choices — including how it treats projected grants and possible automated enforcement revenue increases — affect service levels, staffing decisions and capital planning.

Key facts and figures

Ms. Logan, the city’s finance director, told the council the proposed total budget (revenues and expenditures) is $14,185,232, a slight decrease from last year’s approved budget of $14,212,655. She said the budget team used conservative assumptions given federal-level changes that could affect local revenues and that the city contacted the county for estimated taxable real-estate values.

On personal property tax, staff presented three modeled outcomes based on differing rate assumptions: keeping the current 12 percent rate yields projected revenues of $1,430,000; reducing the rate to 11 percent yields $1,310,000; dropping it to 10 percent — the staff recommendation — yields $1,191,000. Ms. Logan said the 10 percent proposal is intended to “align with the performance audit findings and recommendation.”

Grants and other revenues

Ms. Logan said one police grant already awarded is included in the budget (roughly $26,000), while other grant amounts are projections based on historical awards and planned applications. She described the practice of including historically recurring police grants in the budget as consistent with prior years and said those awards would be handled by amendment if not yet approved at the time of the budget adoption.

Staff also noted an anticipated change in the city’s automated enforcement vendor and a conservative increase of just over 1 percent in automated-enforcement revenue assumptions. Ms. Logan stressed that some grant revenues in the budget are contingent on successful grant awards and therefore are projections rather than assured funds.

Council discussion and next steps

Council members asked for a budget version that excludes the projected grants. Ms. Logan said staff can provide a version without projected grant revenue. Several council members urged careful review and early communication so the council can prepare for the April 19 public hearing and the April 14 virtual meeting. Interim City Manager Harris emphasized workforce and retention issues tied to compensation and benefits and noted the administration’s request for council review of salary and benefit options tied to retention.

Votes at a glance (from this meeting)

- Ordinance O-2509 (amendment to FY2024/FY2025 budget lines): Approved by council (vote reported as 5 to 1). The ordinance reallocated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to a call-center line item and reduced the administration contingency by the same amount. (See actions array for structured details.)

What remains unresolved

The council did a first reading of Ordinance O-2510 (an amendment to fund DocuSign subscription services) at the April 7 meeting; that ordinance was presented and read but was not recorded as adopted at this meeting. The council will continue budget hearings on April 14 (virtual) and April 19 (hybrid) to consider amendments and public comment.

Ending

Staff will provide a grant-excluded budget version and updated worksheets as council members submit change requests. The council’s public hearings on April 14 and April 19 will be the next formal opportunities for public input and for the council to adopt amendments or the final budget.