City manager presents FY2026 budget; council sets 0.841997 tax-rate ceiling and schedules hearing

City Manager David Hall presented the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget to the City Council on Monday, Aug. 11, outlining roughly $70 million in general-fund expenditures, projected revenues just under $71 million and a proposed beginning general-fund reserve of $34 million. After the presentation, the council voted unanimously to publish a voter-approval maximum tax rate of 0.841997 per $100 of taxable value and set a public hearing on the budget and tax rate for Sept. 16, with a separate meeting planned Sept. 17 to consider adoption.

The budget proposal "is developed across many, many months with many, many meetings," City Manager David Hall said, describing input from finance staff and department directors. Hall emphasized that the proposed levy stays below the rate approved by voters for debt service, and he highlighted that general-fund beginning reserves have grown from lower levels in prior years to the $34 million figure proposed for FY2026.

Why it matters: the council’s decision to publish the voter-approval tax-rate ceiling preserves flexibility but does not set the final rate. Finance staff described the proposed tax structure as two parts: an operations-and-maintenance component and a debt-service component tied to voter-approved bond debt. Wendy Badgett, who presented…