City managers and finance director present conservative FY26 budget; committee gives preliminary approval to finance budget

City Manager Scott and Finance Director Emily Oster presented a conservative FY26 budget overview to the Finance Committee on April 24, emphasizing tight revenue assumptions, a robust emergency reserve and targeted staffing and technology investments while acknowledging near‑term risks tied to national economic uncertainty.

Oster said the budget team set a conservative gross receipts tax (GRT) assumption of 5.9 percent growth for FY26 and built the city’s budget using three‑year averages and by removing one‑time expenditures from department base budgets. She told the committee the finance department now totals 57 full‑time equivalents and that the budget office is fully staffed after recent hires.

City Manager Scott emphasized both strengths and risks: the city projects a general fund balance near $32.6 million at fiscal year end and maintains an emergency reserve that approaches the Government Finance Officers Association guideline of 20 percent. "So the $30,000,000 emergency reserve is definitely a…