Marysville council adopts 2025–26 budget amid dispute over new public‑works post

The Marysville City Council voted to adopt the city's fiscal year 2025'26 budget and appropriation limits after a special meeting, approving the measure by roll call. Finance Director Anissa Vuong presented the budget and answered council questions before the motion passed and the meeting was adjourned.

Vuong opened by apologizing for the late delivery of the budget and outlined the general fund's major revenue and expense items. She said major revenue sources include property tax (about $1,500,000), sales tax (about $2,500,000), Measure C (about $3,700,000) and a VLFF/other allocation of roughly $1,300,000, producing a rough general fund revenue total shown in the packet as about $11.3 million. Vuong said grant revenues total about $7,700,000 and called out a $700,000 grant from the Yuba Water Agency for the Seventeenth and Hall pump station.

Vuong described major expense categories, saying salary and wages total roughly $8.3 million and observable public safety spending accounts for about 84% of salary and wage amounts and roughly 31% of the roughly $22 million in aggregate expenses. She listed specific debt service figures of about $1,500,000 in principal and $900,000 in interest tied to outstanding obligations, cited the 2019 Certificate of Participation, and said the city receives a roughly $285,000 annual fee from the Hard Rock Casino through 2034.

The budget includes funding requests for five positions Vuong identified as: an additional patrol officer, a community service officer (CSO), a full-time building inspector (up from part time), a fleet mechanic, and a conversion of a part-time administrative support position to full time in community development. Vuong said the two police positions together cost roughly $215,000, a single fire vacancy is about $120,000, and the new mechanic is budgeted at about $120,000 (including benefits). She described projected near-term savings from an in-house fleet mechanic totaling an estimated $75,000 in the first year across departments.

Vuong also outlined nonpersonnel costs the council will face: a planned server replacement and backup for city IT (roughly $100,000), rising insurance and health premium costs she estimated in the 15% to 30% range, and capital projects to be drawn from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and reimbursable Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) projects. She noted the city had recently reinvested $1.4 million in U.S. Treasury securities and expected about $60,000 in interest income.

Several council members pressed on funding choices. Multiple speakers said they had expected the public works director position to remain unfunded based on prior prebudget meetings; at the meeting Vuong indicated the public works director was funded in the presented spreadsheet. Mayor Branscomb characterized the change as "a major breach of trust" and said, "I will not vote to support this budget" without further review. Vuong responded that spreadsheet allocations reflected the current presentation and that council had previously been asked whether to fund the position.

Council discussion also asked for reserve-level clarity. Vuong said the city's reserves sit at about 48% before removing ARPA funds and that after the budget is applied the city would be at about 35% to 38% in reserves. She offered to schedule another meeting for a deeper reserve review.

After discussion, a council member moved to approve the fiscal year 2025'26 budget and appropriation limits and the motion was seconded. The clerk conducted a roll call in which Councilmember Rollins voted yes, Councilmember Gilchrist voted yes, Councilmember Hudson voted yes, Vice Mayor Buttigiegoli voted yes and Mayor Branscomb voted no; the motion was recorded as approved and the meeting was adjourned. The council's next regular meeting was announced for Tuesday, July 1, at 6 p.m.

The budget resolution the council approved funds five new positions and reflects the revenue and capital assumptions Vuong presented; the resolution also adopts the appropriation limits shown in the meeting packet. The city will draw down ARPA funds for city hall improvements and submit reimbursement requests for CDBG road projects through the California Department of Housing and Community Development, Vuong said.