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Garner staff correct insurance formula, propose funding unfunded requests in FY26 budget
Summary
Town staff told the council a formula error overstated dental insurance costs by about $1.3 million; corrected figures free up one-time resources that staff recommend using to fund parks and street resurfacing priorities while keeping the tax rate unchanged.
The Town of Garner on May 27 discussed corrections to its proposed fiscal year 2026 budget after staff found a formula error that overstated dental insurance costs.
Town Manager Jody Miller told the council the "recommended budget totals 87,400,000.0" and that the proposal keeps the current 52¢ tax rate. Budget Director Sarah Warren said a system error had caused dental insurance to be calculated using the annual amount as the monthly amount; after correction the dental line fell to about $244,000 and the combined group insurance total is about $4.2 million. "Further analysis indicated that the dental insurance appeared to be too high, and once it was corrected, that number came down to approximately 244,000," Warren said.
The corrected figures reduce the shortfall staff had modeled for FY26 and for later years in the town's multiyear projections. Staff told council they will rerun the multiyear financial model and provide updated projections before adoption. Miller and Warren said the correction reduces the FY26 gap and gives staff room to recommend funding some previously unfunded requests.
Staff recommended using part of the one-time available resources to fund several items from the unfunded requests list, citing council priorities. Recommendations in the May 27 packet included: funding fleet technician equipment for fleet services; program enhancements in Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources (including one full-time equivalent position to support inclusive recreation services and expansion of athletics and rental capacity); upgrading recreation management software and adding a strategy and data analyst; and adding roughly $544,000 to street resurfacing and $100,000 to traffic calming. Warren said details for those budget lines appear in the budget book (pages 69, 140 and 183 of the packet).
Council members asked for follow-up detail. Council member Singleton asked how the correction would affect multiyear projections; staff said the model will be rerun and results provided to council. Singleton and others asked staff to provide updated pages and clearer annotations for council members reviewing the packet. Staff agreed to provide updated materials and a revised multiyear model.
Council discussed timing for adopting a budget ordinance and agreed to target the June 17 regular meeting to consider adoption, giving staff time to finalize numbers and respond to follow-up questions. No formal vote on the final budget took place at the work session.
Staff noted this is the first year the town used new budget and human-resources software; Miller and others described a learning curve and said they will conduct a lessons-learned review to improve processes for FY27.
What happens next: staff will rerun the multiyear model with corrected insurance numbers, provide updated pages or an annotated packet for council review, and return with recommended ordinance language and final proposals for adoption at a June meeting (staff recommended June 17 as a target).
