Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Angola mayor and finance staff present balanced operating budget, warn of state changes
Summary
Mayor Richard Hickman and finance staff presented a 2026 budget package that keeps operating funds balanced but reduces capital spending and warns of state legislative changes that could reduce future revenues.
Mayor Richard Hickman and city finance staff on Sept. 2 presented the proposed 2026 city budget and a budget-management report that the administration described as balanced on the tax-funded side.
"For the tax funded side of city operations, we are presenting a balanced budget for 2026," Mayor Hickman said in his prepared remarks. The mayor told council the city is budgeting expenditures about 1% below estimated revenues for 2026 and that general-fund spending is proposed to rise 2.2% while overall city operations (including other funds) show a 4.8% decrease year over year.
The administration said capital spending is lower in the 2026 proposal, from $6.5 million in the prior year to $5.0 million, a reduction of roughly 22.5%, mainly because two large grant-funded projects in 2025 are not carried forward. The mayor also highlighted that utility budgets differ: the water utility is projected to see a 73% increase in spending to address two major aging pipe replacements, and staff said a utility rate review will be conducted in the coming year.
Finance staff framed the budget against pending state legislation (referred to in the presentation as Senate Bill Enrolled Act No. 1), which the administration said could materially alter how local governments fund operations. The city has retained consultants (Baker Tilly) to model the bill's impacts. Staff reported that recent trends produced several consecutive operating surpluses and that the administration has intentionally increased rainy-day reserves; since the mayor's administration began, staff said $2.7 million was transferred into reserves over the past two years.
Ryan Herber and budget staff walked council through revenue assumptions, including an expected 4% levy growth factor for property tax in 2025 and modest local income tax growth. Staff noted the 2026 budget carries a roughly $1.3 million capital deficit that the administration expects can be supported by prior increases in cash balances while longer-term state changes are modeled.
Council members were invited to ask follow-up questions and to review materials provided in the budget packet; the administration said it will continue conversations with retained financial consultants and department heads as the council moves through final budget adoption steps.
