Finance staff say most property taxes received; preliminary FY26 budget shows shortfall

Miss Holdren, a finance office staff member, told the Budget and Finance Committee on a routine meeting that the majority of property taxes for the fiscal year had been received and that staff are working through delinquency collections.

The accounting staff distributed financial reports Friday, Miss Holdren said, and sent another set of bills in March to try to capture outstanding payments. “A lot of special situations have happened in March. So we're trying to get that to full collection,” she said. She offered to answer questions from committee members.

Committee members heard that the city is still awaiting final assessment numbers from both property assessors; Miss Holdren said she expects those numbers in mid-April. She said staff have run a scenario requested by a committee member that would keep the tax rate steady against reassessment, which could yield “in the tune of over $3,000,000 in revenue.” She emphasized the $3 million figure is an estimate and said she would not include that estimate in the staff proposal in order not to influence policy deliberations.

On the audit, Miss Holdren said the finance office received a full draft of the fiscal 2024 audit report Friday afternoon and that she was reviewing it and preparing edits. She told the committee she expects a public release on Friday the 11th and recommended the auditors present to BFAC on May 5, with a subsequent presentation to BOMA that same evening.

Committee members also received an update on the fiscal 2026 budget planning. Miss Holdren said staff and a colleague, Chelsea, are finalizing budget materials for an upcoming work session and that, with current department requests and revenues as budgeted, they are “currently sitting at a deficit budget.” She described the deficit as “a small deficit” in one exchange and later explained it as a multi-digit gap: “7. Could be 6, but 7 right now,” meaning a seven‑figure gap under current assumptions. She added that if equalization across counties were applied, that figure could shift to a lower magnitude.

Members discussed one policy question tied to the FY26 work: how a $1.50 fund (described briefly by staff) will operate and whether that fund will reduce the projected shortfall. Miss Holdren said staff are still working through how that fund will affect the numbers and that the amount could determine whether the budget gap is measured in millions or hundreds of thousands.

Votes at a glance: The committee approved the March 2025 meeting minutes at the start of the session. A motion to approve the March 2025 minutes passed 3 to 0; no individual roll-call votes were recorded in the transcript.

Staff will return with the audit presentation on May 5 and with budget materials at the scheduled work session next week.