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Lemoore officials preview Fiscal Year 2026 budget; maintenance staffing, dispatch and insurance costs drive increase
Summary
City staff presented a draft Fiscal Year 2026 budget that would raise the general fund from about $11.2 million to just over $12 million, driven largely by a newly staffed maintenance department, fuller dispatch staffing and projected health insurance increases; no new positions were proposed beyond those already added.
City staff presented highlights of a proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget during the March 18 Lemoore City Council meeting, saying the general fund would increase from the adopted FY25 level of roughly $11.2 million to just over $12 million.
The presentation said most of the FY26 increase — about $850,000 — is tied to the new maintenance department, including four groundskeeper positions approved this fiscal year and a fuller staffing level for dispatch. Staff also told council enterprise funds (water, refuse, sewer, fleet) are expected to finish FY25 under budget overall, with the utility-billing program running over budget because of recently added positions.
The presenter said staff did not propose additional new positions for FY26 beyond those discussed; they assumed a 12% increase in health insurance costs effective in December and noted the city's CalPERS employer rates and unfunded liability will be updated in July. The presenter also said operational savings from replacing outside landscaping contracts with in‑house groundskeepers should offset part of the personnel increase for maintenance.
Council members questioned the scale and drivers of the increases. Councilmember Lyons asked whether the police and dispatch lines accounted for much of the change; staff replied the largest personnel increase between FY25 and FY26 is in the maintenance department (personnel costs moving from about $567,000 to about $910,000). Staff said the additional personnel costs should be largely offset by reductions in outside professional contracts.
Staff summarized enterprise fund changes as well: total adopted enterprise budget for FY25 was roughly $3.1 million and staff proposed increasing that to about $3.6 million in FY26, representing around a $550,000 net increase across those funds.
The council scheduled the next budget workshop for April 15 to give members more opportunity to review details and ask follow-up questions.
Ending: Staff committed to returning with further detail at the April budget workshop, including follow-up on operational offsets and the effect of the health insurance and CalPERS rate changes on the city's long-term personnel costs.
