Clinton City finance staff present tight FY26 general fund with $38,000 projected surplus

Anita, a city finance staff member, opened the council's second FY26 budget workshop with a summary of property-tax and general-fund projections and cautioned the council that the proposed budget leaves little margin for error.

"We have projected revenues of $25,900,000 and projected expenses of $25,893,000 which leaves a surplus of $37,965," Anita said as she reviewed the summary sheet, noting limited reserves and the potential for year-end shortfalls.

The surplus figure is small compared with recent draws on fund balance. Finance staff said the general fund used surplus dollars in FY23 and FY24 and that the city finished FY24 with roughly $1.9 million in reserve. Finance staff also noted Clinton's residential rollback rate has…