Reno council directs staff to advance FY26 tentative budget, freezes about 20 positions

The Reno City Council on May 5 directed staff to advance the city’s tentative fiscal year 2026 budget and fee schedule, approving a plan that balances roughly $321,000,000 of appropriations using about $9,500,000 in one‑time funds and a package of $16,000,000 in reductions.

City Finance Director Vicki Van Buren told the council the tentative budget uses the strategic plan to guide spending and relies on the “best information that we have at the time” while acknowledging volatile revenues such as sales tax and higher construction costs. She said, “This is where you determine where that money is funded to make the strategic priorities implemented.”

The plan directed by the council includes no new citywide positions for FY26, but retains two positions in the redevelopment agency; it preserves the city’s overall head count on the organizational charts while marking about 19.75 positions as frozen or unfunded. Van Buren estimated the city employs a little over 1,500 positions total and that about 80% of them are in the general fund.

Nut graf: The workshop emphasized matching…