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Sandpoint council delays setting FY2026 maximum budget to July 30
Summary
City officials heard a high-level presentation on the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget and voted to postpone establishing the maximum (tentative) budget until a July 30 special meeting, keeping the August 20 public hearing date.
Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm and the City Council heard a high-level presentation of the proposed fiscal year 2026 (FY26) budget and voted to postpone setting the city's maximum (tentative) budget until a special meeting on July 30, 2025. The council left the annual public hearing date unchanged for Aug. 20, 2025.
The postponement followed a staff presentation and extended council discussion about timing, department reviews and state publication requirements. Sarah (Finance staff) summarized the process and said, "Tonight, we are here to discuss a tentative approval of the revenues and expenditures for the fiscal year 26 budget for the public hearing." She told council the presentation was high level and that staff planned deeper departmental briefings at subsequent meetings.
Mayor Grimm told council that action tonight would set the maximum amount the city could spend for FY26, and that revenues and expenditures could be reduced later but not increased above that ceiling. Legal counsel (Fonda) confirmed the statutory publication requirement and the limits on raising the maximum after it is set. City Clerk Melissa Ward explained the newspaper-publication timing required for the Aug. 20 public hearing and said staff could still meet that schedule if the council delayed formal action to July 30.
Council members who raised the motion stressed they wanted more time to review department-level details. Councilor Kyle Schreiber moved to postpone consideration; the motion ultimately was amended and carried to delay the council vote until July 30. A roll-call vote on the amended postponement recorded multiple yes and no votes (see Actions below). Mayor Grimm encouraged councilors to use the intervening meetings to ask detailed questions of department heads and staff before the council sets any final amounts.
The budget materials presented at the meeting included a multi-year view of funds, a capital improvement plan (CIP) overview, salary and benefit trends, and proposed onetime purchases. Staff emphasized rising medical/dental benefit costs as a key driver in the FY26 draft, and reminded council that using additional foregone (property-tax) levy authority would be a policy decision with long-term consequences.
The council also heard a procedural reminder that adopting the tentative budget is a revenue-driven step: absent new revenue sources (for example, an unanticipated donation), the maximum set by the council becomes the ceiling for the year.
What's next: staff will schedule departmental briefings and bring the item back on July 30 for the council to set the maximum (tentative) budget. Public notice and the formal public hearing will continue to be scheduled for Aug. 20, 2025.
