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Prescott City Council adopts tentative FY2026 budget, adds city judge position after court deconsolidation
Summary
Council approved a tentative budget and set a public hearing for the final budget and tax levy; council also added a full‑time city judge position after the county deconsolidated consolidated court services, and staff described allocations tied to the public safety tax initiative and pension liability payments.
The Prescott City Council on June 10 adopted Resolution No. 2025-1926 to set the city's tentative fiscal year 2026 budget and to schedule a public hearing for the final budget, expenditure limitation and tax levy. The council vote to adopt the tentative budget was unanimous, 7-0.
Deputy Finance Director Lars Johnson presented the tentative numbers and said the operating budget is approximately $145 million and the capital budget about $148 million with a $10 million contingency; the presentation listed a combined maximum budget figure near $303 million. Johnson said $24 million of the proposed total is related to the city's Public Safety Tax Initiative.
Council and staff also discussed adding a full-time city judge position after the city court deconsolidated from the county justice court. The city attorney explained that for decades the city court and county justice of the peace were consolidated; with the county's recent decision to deconsolidate, the city must fund a full-time judge rather than relying on a partial contract payment. Johnson said the prior contract payment was about $89,000 and that a full-time salary was estimated in a broader range, which the city will finalize in recruitment and appropriation steps.
Officials described steps to manage pension liabilities: the city plans to deposit $836,000 toward the Prescott Police Department's unfunded liability using prior-year savings from personnel vacancies. City staff also described state contributions and expectations of additional state funds that would help address the Fire Department's liability, noting an expected roughly $2 million from the state to assist both funds.
During the budget discussion several council members urged broader public transparency about how large capital and strategic-plan expenditures will be tracked. Staff pointed to the newly launched OpenGov Transparency Portal and said it will permit the public to review budgets, historical financials and departmental expenditures; staff offered to add a view that links the authorized expenditure list (AEL) items to the OpenGov project pages so residents can follow spending and project progress.
Johnson said the June 10 adoption sets the maximum budget under current guidelines and that the council can reduce the final budget at the hearing scheduled for June 24. The tentative budget was adopted 7-0; staff will return with the final appropriation requests and any midyear reappropriation actions if grant outcomes change.
