Council reviews FY2026 budget; proposes $300,000 from reserves to boost streets spending while holding tax rate at 63 cents

The City Council at a special meeting Aug. 25 reviewed the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget and discussed using $300,000 of the city—s fund balance to increase streets and sidewalks funding to $2.6 million while keeping the proposed property tax rate at 63 cents.

Rachel Winslow, head of office management budget, told the council the proposed general fund is balanced and meets the city—s 25% fund‑balance policy. "We do presently have a balanced budget and we are meeting our 25% policy minimum, with $313,000 over policy minimum or 91 days of reserves," Winslow said. She said using roughly $300,000 of that excess would raise the streets and sidewalks allocation from $2.3 million to $2.6 million for fiscal 2026 with no effect on the proposed 63¢ tax rate.

That proposed streets allocation would represent an $800,000 increase from fiscal 2025 and, Winslow said, "would be the largest general fund commitment for streets and sidewalk rehabilitation in the general fund operating budget since we started tracking these dollars specifically." The council discussed whether to adopt the budget at a 63¢ tax rate or proceed with the legally published maximum rate of…