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Casper previews $21 million in new budget requests and wide-ranging project rollovers in FY26 amendment
Summary
City staff presented Budget Amendment No. 1 for FY26, proposing about $21 million in new requests (roughly $4.1 million net after offsetting revenues) and extensive project rollovers and repurposed funds across water, sewer, streets, police, Metro Animal Control and other core infrastructure projects. Staff scheduled the amendment for public-hear
City Manager Zulima and Finance staff presented Budget Amendment No. 1 for fiscal year 2026 and explained the amendment's four categories: new budget requests, project rollovers, repurposed funds and operational contract rollovers. The amendment is intended to restore spending authority for multi-year projects that were not completed by the end of the prior fiscal year and to authorize new spending requests.
Staff said the amendment includes about $21 million in new requests, representing an 11.4% increase over the previously approved FY26 budget of about $183 million; nearly $17 million of that $21 million is expected to be offset by new revenue, leaving an estimated net increase of about $4.1 million (approximately 2.3% of the original budget). Major items highlighted by Finance staff included:
- $15 million for screw pumps at the wastewater treatment plant, expected to be funded by a state revolving fund loan (SLIB consideration). - $3.5 million to purchase a building currently leased for salt-waste operations (paid from landfill/veil fill funds). - $1.5 million from the Water Conservation Fund to supplement existing funding for the Washington Park band shell. - $300,000 to add police vehicles that were not fully purchased in the earlier capital cycle.
Pete Myers summarized a long list of project rollovers totaling roughly $125 million of authorized spending (many projects are grant- or loan-funded). Notable rollovers and ongoing projects include a 10-million-gallon tank project, North Platte sanitary sewer work, two bridge projects, several FEMA-funded projects, the police station project (phase planning and future phases), the Metro Animal Control building, and a variety of street and pipe projects.
Staff also explained a new packet feature (Attachment C) listing small repurposed funds where unspent dollars from completed projects would be redirected to related local projects. The city manager and finance director said the city manager retains internal authority for smaller transfers (historically a $35,000 threshold), but the amendment requests council authorization where budget authority no longer exists.
Staff noted the public hearing on the amendment is scheduled for Oct. 7 to allow council and the public additional time to review the voluminous packet; councilors asked follow-up questions about timing, project status reports and how the city manages recurring rollovers.
Ending: Council accepted staff's presentation and was asked to bring questions before the Oct. 7 public hearing; no final adoption vote was taken at the Sept. 23 meeting.
