Sierra Vista previews FY 2026 budget: $47.3 million personnel estimate; council flags street maintenance shortfall

City staff reviewed preliminary Fiscal Year 2026 budget projections at a Sierra Vista City Council working session, outlining personnel, operations and maintenance (O&M) and capital requests across funds and flagging a shortfall for routine street maintenance.

The budget presenter noted the numbers were preliminary: “these are the numbers as of now, and they're definitely going to change as they move forward with the budgeting process,” the presenter said, adding the current $687,000 figure reflected an early-stage imbalance in the general fund.

Staff said the FY 2026 personnel total across all funds is currently estimated at $47,303,000; the general fund personnel estimate was listed at about $37,000,092. The draft includes a 2% step increase for full- and part-time employees effective July 2025. Staff described a set of promotional reclassifications and new supervisory conversions rather than multiple brand-new positions; examples given included an estimated $21,000 annual difference tied to reclassifying a deputy chief information officer role and a $9,706 annual…