Committee recommends 2026 Fayette-area operating budget with child-care rebate discussion added

The Finance, Administration & Economic Development Committee on June 18 recommended that the Committee of the Whole forward the proposed 2026 operating budget, the 2026-30 capital improvements program and maintenance program, and strategic goals to the full City Council, with an amendment adding two strategic goals related to housing incentives and financial tools.

The committee heard a staff presentation summarizing the Fayette goal-area portion of the 2026 plan, which covers the city manager's office and the divisions that roll into what staff called the Fayette area: information technology, law, municipal court, finance and human resources. Staff said the city's total 2026 budget is about $354,000,000, a 6.5% increase over 2025, driven in part by a projected rise in beginning fund balance to about $120,500,000. The general fund remains the city's primary operating fund, accounting for about 70% of the operating budget.

Budget details presented by staff included: - General fund operating totals and drivers: sales tax (about 46% of current revenues) and property tax (about 35% of current revenues); staff projected sales-tax growth of 1.2% and property-tax growth of 3.7% for 2026. - Public safety consumes a majority of the general fund operating budget (roughly 53% of the general fund operating budget). - Bond and interest fund: 2026 budget $18,500,000 (about a 5% increase), with an assumed transfer of $13,300,000 from the general fund and $4,900,000 from the transient guest tax fund; staff noted a $500,000 contingency for a possible 2026 bond issue. - Economic-development grants and contracts funded…