Perry Council adopts fiscal-year 2026 budget, approves FY25 amendment to lower fund balance

The Perry City Council on June 26 adopted the proposed fiscal year 2025'026 budget and unanimously approved a separate amendment to the fiscal year 2024'025 budget that shifts fund balance and moves several transfers to capital and parks accounts.

Finance staff presented the budgets and the amendment. Shanna (finance staff) said the general fund proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 is $6,318,390, a roughly 5% increase from fiscal year 2025, and described a budget amendment intended to "move the revenues to trend and move the expenses to trend." She said the amendment includes transfers and the appropriation of fund balance so the city's unrestricted fund balance would fall from an unadjusted 47% to about 28% for the current fiscal year and to roughly 21% when the FY2026 numbers are included, within the city's 5% to 35% compliance range.

Why it matters: Council members said maintaining a reserve inside the compliance band preserves the city's ability to meet operating needs and to fund one-time capital items without requiring unplanned tax increases.

Key details and supporting facts - Shanna told the council the amendment includes a $55,000 allocation to the parks budget for tree maintenance at Perry Park, based on recommendations from an arborist. - The amendment also moves grant money and reassigns portions of administration budget to cover project timing differences; one line item shown in presentation moved from $1,500,000 to $1,200,000 (described in the meeting as grant money being moved into the budget). - Shanna described total transfers to capital and restricted uses that included parks equipment and public works facility renovations; she reported "total transfers equal 228,760" in the presentation slides. - The sewer fund was amended to remove a $16,500 FY25 line-item for line repairs that will instead be carried into FY26, making FY25 show $0 for that item and FY26 show $33,000 for the same work.

Votes and formal actions - Resolution 2025-06 adopting the fiscal year 2025'026 budget: motion and second recorded on the record; roll-call votes show Council members Young, Walker, Osler, Wright and Tueller voting "Yes." The council announced the vote was unanimous and the motion carried. - Resolution 2025-12 adopting the fiscal year 2024'025 budget amendment: council discussed the tree-maintenance item and intended ongoing maintenance; motion and second were recorded and the roll-call vote was unanimous (Young, Walker, Osler, Wright, Tueller all voted "Yes").

Background and context Shanna said no tax increase is included in the proposed FY2026 budget. She described increases in the budget driven by unfinished street projects moved into FY26, landscaping projects, a planned additional police vehicle tied to the return of a ninth officer, increases in the city's fire contract, and higher operational costs generally. Enterprise funds were split into individual water, sewer, storm drain and garbage funds in the packet; Shanna reported specific rate proposals elsewhere on the agenda (see separate article on water and sewer rates).

What comes next Councilors who raised longer-term allocation questions asked staff to track and bring forward the parks master plan when finished so allocations align with that plan. The council also discussed monitoring enterprise fund balances and considering rate adjustments in future budgets.

Ending note: The council approved both the budget adoption and the budget amendment unanimously.