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Committee flagged $555,000 general-fund shortfall, asked for prioritized cuts and clearer fund-balance reports
Summary
Finance staff told the committee the general fund deficit moved from $384,000 to $555,000 in draft FY26 numbers; members asked for structurally balanced budgeting, clearer fund-balance breakdowns and a dashboard of key metrics.
City finance staff told the Budget and Finance Advisory Committee that the draft FY26 general fund shows a $555,000 shortfall after recent changes, up from an earlier $384,000 deficit.
Miss Holden said she circulated fund reports and noted the draft numbers could change when final property-assessment figures from county assessors are received; those numbers are expected to be finalized in the coming week. She asked the committee for guidance on whether to reduce the deficit now or wait for final tax numbers before making adjustments ahead of first-reading ordinances.
Aldermen told staff they prefer passing a structurally balanced budget where possible and asked staff to identify nonpriority general-fund items that could be cut. Several members urged that budget decisions be conservative given uncertainties in 2026 and the city’s other obligations.
During the FY25 update and other remarks, Holden also reported recent fraudulent charges on a small number of P-cards that bank staff identified as bank-side fraud; affected cards were canceled and new cards issued, and Holden said emails were sent to department heads. She proposed developing a fund-balance report showing breakdowns (unassigned, rainy-day, committed funds) so elected officials see the available fund balance before making commitments.
Separately, committee members asked Holden to develop a high-level BFAC dashboard of top financial metrics (year-to-date revenue and expenditures vs. budget, elastic tax trends such as sales tax and hotel-motel tax, and simple red-yellow-green flags for metrics that need attention). Holden said she will prepare a draft dashboard for the next meeting and invited written metric suggestions from members.
Committee members said elections during budget season complicated the process and urged staff to return with grouped lists of nonessential items to consider for cuts in a future meeting.
