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Woodstock council advances FY2026 operating budget after staff removes 12 firefighter positions
Summary
City staff presented the proposed FY2026 operating budget, noting a balanced general fund, a 4% water rate increase and the removal of 12 firefighter positions from the draft. Council opened and closed a public hearing and voted to advance the budget to a final reading next week.
Woodstock Mayor Michael Caldwell and the City Council on June 9 advanced the city’s proposed fiscal year 2026 operating budget after staff removed 12 firefighter positions that had been included in an earlier draft.
City staff member Miss Welch presented the reading for the FY2026 budget, telling council that “everything is balanced.” Welch said the general fund’s property-tax projections assume 2% new construction growth and that the water fund includes a 4% rate increase effective July 1. She told council that the 12 firefighter positions proposed in May were removed from the current draft so staff could “identify potential alternative funding opportunities.”
The change, Welch said, reduces use of reserves and is intended to be “a more fiscally responsible approach.” She also outlined other budget assumptions: a 4% increase in health insurance fund allocation, a 9% actuarial pension contribution increase, a 41% rise in property and casualty insurance costs, and continuing funding for capital projects including the parking deck debt through the city’s TAD (tax allocation district).
Welch gave a department-level overview: the proposed FY2026 citywide budget is $85,870,000, about a 5% increase over FY2025, with the general fund at roughly $31.9 million (about 37% of the total). She said general fund recurring revenues are projected up 2% overall, with taxes making up roughly 52% of general-fund revenue. Among personnel items, a 2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is included for the full year but capped at $2,000 per employee; 22 of 241 positions would be affected by that cap. The budget also continues a merit program and proposes several reclassifications and a small number of new positions staggered during the fiscal year.
Council opened the required public hearing for the budget, but no members of the public had signed up to speak. After discussion, Mayor Caldwell asked for and received a motion to approve the budget reading; the motion passed and the mayor said the council will return next week for the final hearing and vote.
Why it matters: the FY2026 budget sets tax, personnel and capital priorities for the coming year. Key changes from the May reading — notably removal of the 12 firefighter positions and the COLA cap — were singled out by staff as reasons the council will need an additional hearing before final adoption.
