Tallmadge council reviews proposed 2026 budget, highlights major road and water projects and schedules amendment votes

Tallmadge City Council members on Nov. 5 reviewed the administration's proposed 2026 budget, focusing on infrastructure projects, fund balances and several amendment requests the council plans to introduce at next Thursday's meeting.

Mayor Mary Kilway opened the session, saying, "We're kicking off the most important work that we do all year, reviewing and adopting the city's budget." Director of Administration Joe Ignazito presented the detailed packet attached to Ordinance 2025-87 and thanked department leaders for their work: "It wouldn't be this budget wouldn't be possible without that teamwork."

The administration highlighted three large capital projects: the Howe Road improvement (budgeted at about $4,190,000), the East Avenue improvement (about $3,290,000) and a Southwest Avenue waterline replacement (about $1,000,000). Staff said the Southwest waterline and other multi-year water replacements are being coordinated with road repairs and that prior action in Ordinance 2025-53 phases in water rate increases through 2028 to help restore fund compliance.

Staff reported the city's overall financial position as healthy. Five of six major funds met or exceeded the minimum fund balance requirements; the water operating fund was noted as projected to end 2026 below its required minimum (projected around $572,000 versus a required balance just over $718,000). Income tax revenue, the city's largest revenue source, was projected at $16,265,500 for 2026, an increase of roughly 3.08% from the 2025 budget.

Council members probed deferred capital items and near-term needs. A deferred server-room cooling upgrade drew particular attention after staff said the system alarmed twice last summer when temperatures exceeded the trigger (one alarm at 83'F and one at 93'F). Councilman Donald Pavlik asked about the alarms; council was told two servers carried an approximate replacement value of $297,000 in last year's budget. Administration described the deference as a "prudent risk" given monitoring and a forthcoming citywide service contract.

Other substantive capital and program items raised during the session included: - Detention-basin repairs adjacent to Fire Station 2. Staff said the basins are hydraulically connected and must be corrected together to address standing water, water quality and nuisance plant growth. Council was told the work is costly because of tied-in piping at the nearby five-corners intersection. - Parks and recreation items: staff reported Macca Pool's public areas and parking lot are covered by operational cameras and said a donated Millcraft storage barn for the Marlins team was nearly fully installed and expected to be removed from donor property by Nov. 21. - Fleet and vehicle procurement: council discussed mileage and life-cycle planning for police, street and other vehicles and whether hybrid vehicles should be evaluated for some roles.

Councilmembers also discussed personnel and operating lines. Staff described two grid changes for 2026: conversion of a part-time zoning inspector to a full-time zoning inspector (reclassed to a higher pay band) and adding a second part-time receptionist; the economic developer role was clarified as a dedicated economic developer position separate from planning.

Several amendments were flagged for next Thursday's meeting. Council members indicated they would introduce motions to: - Restore full funding to the Richardson Trust Fund (the administration said the typical $5,000 appropriation had been omitted from initial materials and that the fund has been exhausted); - Reconsider adding the server-room cooling upgrade to the 2026 capital plan (council members emphasized the high replacement cost of servers and recent temperature alarms); - Increase the Insight economic-development retainer from the budgeted $48,000 to $72,000 (roughly 30 hours per month) to expand business attraction work; and - Re-allocate or earmark $50,000 for the CIC to support microgrants/microfunding and grant-related activity.

Finance director Molly Gilbride told the council the city holds about $1.2 million in the health-care reserve and staff negotiated to use part of that carryover to moderate an insurer-proposed increase. Administration also clarified a line item labeled for Akron water contract payments and said membership in the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation (AMATS) organization enables pursuit of federal and state funding for projects such as East Avenue.

No final vote on the 2026 budget was taken at the work session. Council moved to adjourn; the roll-call vote on adjournment was unanimous and the meeting ended about 7:24 p.m. The council will consider the listed amendments and additional questions during its regular meeting next week, when formal votes on the budget or amendments may occur.