Council discusses FY 2025–26 tentative budget; city staff flag Windsor Park funding, land purchase and stormwater shortfall

City staff presented the city’s tentative FY 2025–26 budget and led a broad discussion of revenues, operating costs and capital priorities across multiple funds.

Staff framed the budget as a work plan and said department heads had helped prepare the package. Key items discussed included an anticipated 1.5% cost-of-living adjustment and a modest employee assistance program budget ($3,400) to provide counseling services to full-time employees (staff said it would cost roughly $11.40 per employee per month and could be extended to four permanent part-time employees for about $44 per month).

Windsor Park and assigned ARPA funds Staff described an existing assignment of approximately $1.7 million (from earlier federal ARPA-related money that the council previously set aside) and said the administration proposes using a large portion of those assigned dollars to accelerate Windsor Park construction and hardscaping. The manager and several council members discussed the tradeoffs of spending the assigned funds now versus preserving the assignment for future needs. Staff said using the funds to complete hardscaping and infrastructure could allow the city to more successfully seek grants for amenities such as a pavilion or playground.

Proposed land purchase and shared civic building Council and staff discussed an offer to acquire roughly 12.2 acres (including irrigation shares) at a total purchase price staff said is $3,027,000. If the cost is split roughly 50/50 with a local special district, the city’s share would be approximately $1.5 million. Staff proposed to amend the current fiscal year budget at year‑end to include the city’s share of the purchase and budgeted $40,000 in FY 2026 for design and programming fees as the parties begin planning a joint operations building. Council and staff discussed options for how to structure construction and financing, including having one entity issue bonds for construction and a future interlocal or condominium-style ownership arrangement for shared space.

Stormwater fund and potential fee increases Staff showed the stormwater fund in the draft budget running an operating shortfall in the coming fiscal year. The presentation estimated a potential $700,000 draw on reserves in FY 2026 if no additional revenues are identified. Staff said the stormwater enterprise has not had a rate increase in many years and that a fee increase of multiple dollars per month (the presentation suggested an example range up to $6–$9 depending on methodology) would be required to move the fund toward sustainable operations and to pay for maintenance and capital work that has been deferred (dredging conveyances, catch basin repair, pipe separation work, and maintenance for wetland and conveyance segments). Staff warned that the city needs an engineer-led impervious-surface analysis to set impact fees consistently with state law and to support a stormwater impact fee tied to impervious area.

Other budget and capital highlights - Public safety: staff said the sheriff contract and public-safety related expenses increased and cited roughly a $380,000 projected increase in law‑enforcement contract costs in the draft budget. - Parks and recreation: proposals included a Windsor Park playground (total project cost listed at $223,000, with a $110,000 grant request) and a 35-foot hexagon pavilion with a city share of roughly $68,000. Staff discussed building a restroom and storage at a park (materials estimate about $80,000; total build estimate used in budget $166,000), long-term maintenance of ballfields using a “diamond dust” surface ($14,000 per field cited), and broader park hardscaping and irrigation work. - Utilities and connectivity: staff proposed a UTOPIA/fiber connection to parks and cameras for safety and smart-city functionality with a one-time connection cost discussed at roughly $105,000 and an annual repayment/lease element (staff cited a $15,000 per year payback figure in the presentation), plus camera equipment and connectivity operating costs. - Equipment: several vehicle and equipment replacements were discussed including an estimated $50,000 turf tractor, a proposed new backhoe (city share after trade estimated around $95,000), and outfitting existing vehicles for winter operations.

Next steps and public process Staff said the tentative budget will return to the council for adoption of the tentative budget and that a public hearing on the budget was scheduled on an upcoming council agenda (May 7 was cited in the meeting). Council members asked staff for follow-up materials, including (1) a clearer estimate of buildable entitlements and how many housing units remain permitted but unbuilt, (2) more detailed stormwater fee and impervious-area analysis, and (3) options for structuring the shared building financing with the special district.

The council did not take a final budget vote at this meeting; staff and council indicated opportunities remain to refine the draft before adoption of the tentative and then final budget.