Winchester finance committee gets FY26 budget overview; officials flag tax-rate, stormwater bond and elections costs
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Summary
Finance committee reviewed the FY26 budget overview and departmental requests, including a projected revenue-neutral tax rate near $0.73, a proposed 3% cost-of-living adjustment, replacement of election tabulators and a potential new elections deputy position; no formal budget votes were taken.
The Winchester Common Council Finance Committee heard an overview of the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget Wednesday, with staff warning that real-estate assessments and must-do operating costs will shape the council’s upcoming decisions on the tax rate and departmental priorities.
Dan Hoffman, a city staff member and presenter of the budget packet, told the committee that reassessments showed taxable values rose about 13.5% and that the city’s revenue-neutral tax rate is being calculated by the commissioner of revenue and is “about 73¢” as a ballpark estimate. “Just because … the assessed value of your property went up, that doesn't mean there's an automatic rate increase,” Hoffman said. He added that council will set the final tax rate after public hearings.
The presentation summarized a fund-balance policy that targets a 20% unassigned fund balance; the city ended FY24 at about 25.5% and holds a $2,000,000 capital reserve. Hoffman said organic revenue growth—excluding new real-estate tax receipts—was roughly $1.7 million under the current assumptions. He also asked the committee to plan for a 3% minimum cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in FY26, which he described as a baseline that other jurisdictions are using.
Elections office requests drew sustained discussion. Liz Martin, Winchester’s general registrar and director of elections, told the committee that election workloads have grown and that she is seeking funding to add a full-time deputy director position (a salary range she identified as roughly $81,000 to $90,000). Martin also said the city’s voting tabulators, acquired in 2016, are approaching typical end of life: “All voting systems have a life expectancy of roughly 10 years,” she said. The elections office requested funds to replace tabulators; Martin presented vendor quotes indicating a one‑time capital expense “just shy of $128,000” to replace the tabulators citywide. She said Winchester currently uses 11 tabulators and a total of 19 units that include ADA ballot-marking devices paired with tabulators.
Committee members and staff flagged several "must-do" operating increases across departments: software maintenance and license fees, vehicle fuel and maintenance, refuse/landfill fees, and water/sewer charges for city facilities. Hoffman said the health-insurance increase for FY26 was not yet determined and that an estimate should be available later in the month. He noted that some departments identified many requests but that staff would “whittle it down” across the budget process.
Information-technology requests included an unfunded IT position the city manager would like to restore if revenue scenarios allow, a planned move to a voice-over-IP phone system, PC refreshes and replacement of the city’s limited document-management scanning system. Hoffman said several cloud and subscription maintenance fees are already committed and categorized as “must do.”
Committee members discussed stormwater finances: staff reported stormwater fee collections year-to-date and projected about $4.0 million for the year based on seven months of revenue, compared with a budgeted figure near $3.8 million. Hoffman said the stormwater program borrowed roughly $14 million last year for projects, has spent about $12.7 million and has roughly $1.3 million remaining; he said the city will bring a new bond issuance for stormwater to the March meeting.
Personal property tax collections were raised as a concern. Hoffman said year-to-date collections stood well below the full-year budget; he estimated the personal-property budget at roughly $14.08 million with about $9–9.5 million collected so far and acknowledged that the change in billing due dates (the tax due date moved to June 5) could shift some collections into the next fiscal year.
Committee members emphasized they want guidance from council on which positions or projects to prioritize. Hoffman said staff will present three budget scenarios at the next finance committee meeting to help the council indicate priorities and trade-offs.
Votes recorded in the meeting were procedural: the committee approved minutes from a rescheduled January meeting and later approved a motion to adjourn. There were no formal committee votes recorded on FY26 budget items during this session.
