Wellington presents draft FY2026 budget; trustees debate home rule, discretionary spending and park cuts

Patty Garcia, town administrator, presented the Town of Wellington draft fiscal year 2026 budget at the Oct. 14 Board of Trustees meeting, summarizing updated operational and capital requests, projected revenues and estimated fund balances.

The draft reduces operational expenditure requests from an initial $17.5 million and, after additional refinements totaling about $860,000, shows a 9% year-over-year decrease across all funds. Staff said overall revenue in the general fund is projected to fall about 4.4% (excluding transfers and grants) because of lower permit-related income and an anticipated drop in building permits to about 38 residential permits in 2026. Across all funds, revenues (excluding grants and loans) are projected to be more than 18% lower, staff said.

Town finance staff described specific reductions: the general fund’s requested operating expenditures were cut by about 7.1% from the initial presentation; capital requests were delayed or reduced (including postponing funding for a Public Works and Parks Administration Facility, a Cemetery Mapping Project, and the Strategic Property and Grant Acquisition Fund); and water and sewer capital schedules were spread over multiple years with some purchases delayed. Staff also said the LCSO (Larimer County Sheriff’s Office) contract as submitted remains and carries an increase staff pegged at $132,611.

Why it matters: the budget presentation frames what services the town can maintain and which projects may be delayed. Staff said they used audited FY2023 ending balances and FY2024 audit-in-progress data to calculate estimated beginning and ending fund balances. The draft uses current 2025 fee schedules for water, sewer and stormwater revenues because a municipal utilities rate-and-fee study is still under way; that study will be discussed in a board work session Dec. 16 and may prompt rate changes next year.

Details and decisions

- Fund balances and spending: staff reported an estimated FY2026 ending fund balance of $29.3 million, which assumes $9 million in fund-balance spending for capital and operations. Staff compared that to the 2025 budget’s adopted estimated ending fund balance of $26.1 million and said the estimated reserves currently meet operating-expenditure reserve requirements.

- Hiring freeze: staff announced a temporary hiring freeze affecting three vacant positions: two roles in public works administration (general fund) and one parks-and-recreation position in the park fund. Funding for those positions was removed from the FY2026 draft and will be reassessed later in 2026 and brought back as a budget amendment if appropriate.

- Service reductions and capital delays: staff said they removed funding for Placer AI in the general fund, delayed a community survey and compensation study until 2027, reduced tree and lawn maintenance in the park fund and delayed various capital projects in water and sewer funds (including splitting a water treatment facility project across two years and deferring a roof replacement in the sewer fund to 2027).

- Revenue drivers: staff noted increases in some revenue sources, such as property taxes and retail sales (staff cited an 8% year‑to‑date increase in retail sales in Wellington), but said fee and permit declines—particularly building permits—drive the overall revenue reduction.

Board discussion and outstanding questions

Trustees exchanged strongly held but split views on using board discretionary funds and whether to proceed with a planned home-rule effort now or postpone it one year. Several trustees urged preserving certain community services immediately rather than funding a home-rule campaign; other trustees argued that moving ahead with home rule is an investment intended to expand local revenue tools that would help long-term municipal finances.

Trustees discussed the park fund and whether to temporarily close the town’s batting cages, which staff said generate about $2,000–$2,500 in annual revenue while costing roughly $11,000 per year on the budget line. Staff provided a more detailed breakdown: roughly $9,574 in seasonal staffing last year, an estimated $5,426 in attributable electricity costs, about $7,500 in maintenance, and potential future capital needs estimated at about $146,000 over a five‑to‑ten‑year horizon for safety and replacement items. Staff presented options including reducing discretionary funds to cover shortfalls or exploring automated payment machines paired with on-call staffing to reduce annual operating costs.

Next steps

Staff said the final draft budget and full budget book supplemental information will be presented for consideration on Nov. 18. Staff also said they will continue refining revenue forecasts with municipal advisor Northland Public Finance and that a rate-and-fee study presentation is scheduled for a Dec. 16 work session. The board asked staff to return with additional detail on park participation and cost options (including participation counts and alternatives to full staffing) and said trustees would consider the discretionary fund trade-offs at upcoming meetings.

Ending

During the meeting staff emphasized that public comment and board direction are integral to finalizing the budget and that the draft remains subject to amendments before the Nov. 18 consideration.