Harrisville council adopts tentative 2026 budget; sets aside reserves for road projects

Harrisville — The Harrisville City Council approved a tentative budget for fiscal 2026 during a May work session, adopting staff-recommended revenue assumptions and line-item clarifications while adding a $1,500 allocation for a historic-homes marker.

City finance staff presented the draft as a conservative plan designed to be amended before final adoption. "We tried to be as conservative as we could without being too conservative. We anticipated about a 2, maybe 3% increase," said Jenny, a city staff member who led the presentation. The council moved to approve the tentative budget and instructed staff to include a $1,500 line item to help the history committee install a marker and QR code for historic homes on North Harrisville and West Harrisville roads.

Why it matters: the tentative budget frames the city's spending and revenue expectations for the coming year and creates the template for later amendments and the final adoption. Staff said the document also creates clearer sub‑lines for revenues and expenses so subsequent audits and reporting will be easier to track.

Major revenue and expenditure points

- Revenues: Staff said they modeled modest growth across taxes and fees, anticipating roughly a 2–3% increase overall. Business licensing was highlighted as the single largest permit-related increase; the draft shows business licensing revenue at about $162,000 based on recent collections and new licensing rules. Building permits and plan-check fees were projected to rise because of expected work in the Dixon Creek development.

- Reclassification of miscellaneous revenues: Staff created a new "special services — police" revenue line to record fees for records requests, school resource officer checks, and paid special security (for example, holiday security at Walmart). That change reduced the budget's general "miscellaneous" line from about $100,000 to roughly $40,000.

- Personnel and benefits: Several department salary lines rose to reflect annual cost-of-living and merit adjustments; benefits lines also grew, staff said, because of payroll‑related taxes and the city’s method of budgeting benefits for part-time and seasonal staffing in single line items.

- Administration and IT: Staff proposed replacing an aging server and budgeting for a scanner that interfaces with the city's document management software (DocuWare). Budget notes say the server warranty had expired and a replacement or extended warranty purchase is required.

- Police and public safety: Budget increases include costs for accreditation and officer tracking systems, and a new dedicated revenue line for police special services. Staff also noted some previously grant-funded items had shifted into operating expenses as grants closed.

- Parks and recreation: The parks budget includes $25,000 in equipment/annual needs, with $10,000 reserved for playground work; $9,000 was set aside for a future splashpad feature while $7,000 has already been spent from current-year funds. Staff also budgeted for additional porta‑potties for summer months and possible winter service, and estimated a roughly $22,000 figure to install camera systems across city parks (grant application pending). Irrigation/secondary-water charges for city property were listed at about $14,000 and moved into the park budget to correct prior underbudgeting.

- Capital, reserves and debt: Staff said roughly $500,000 of reserves are planned to be used toward the West Harrisville Road widening and the 1750 North project. The draft also establishes a debt service fund to capture transfers that will pay future bond payments; staff said the debt-service fund numbers will be finalized once new issuance and bond timing are confirmed.

Council action and next steps

Councilors voted to approve the tentative 2026 budget for the purposes of public notice and later amendment. Staff will publish the tentative budget and bring the budget back for the regular adoption process, including any amendments before final adoption.

Ending note: staff emphasized the tentative budget is a planning document that will be revised after county property-tax rates and final grant closeouts are known. Jenny told the council the county should provide certified property-tax rate information within a week or two, which will be used to update the final revenue estimates.