Monte Vista council approves 2026 budget on first reading, directs water rate study
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Sign Up Free
Summary
The Monte Vista City Council approved Ordinance 9-34 adopting the 2026 budget on first reading and instructed staff to perform a water rate study after staff reported the water fund’s expenditures exceed revenues and the plan relies on reserves to balance the budget.
The Monte Vista City Council approved Ordinance 9-34 on first reading Nov. 6, 2025, adopting the city’s proposed 2026 budget and directed staff to conduct a water-rate study to address the water fund shortfall.
City staff opened the public hearing on the budget and summarized revenues and appropriations. The ordinance text, read at the meeting, lists the general fund estimated revenues at $4,597,303 and identifies the airport grant and capital projects among other funds. Staff said some expenditures exceed revenues in the water fund and recommended using beginning fund balances and reserves to balance the budget while pursuing future rate adjustments.
City finance staff told the council they had reduced a previously reported shortfall of about $95,000 by accounting for additional property-tax allocations and moving certain grant-covered salary costs from the general fund to capital projects. Staff also noted additional receipts and timing differences in federal grants and property-tax distributions that improved the revenue picture.
After closing the public hearing, Councilor (motion-maker recorded in the packet) moved to approve Ordinance 9-34 on first reading; the motion carried with recorded ayes from Councilors Howard, Lorenz, Watson, Mayor Pro Tem Segula and Mayor Becker.
Following the first-reading approval, council unanimously moved to instruct staff to complete a water-rate study “as soon as possible” to bring the water fund into balance. The council recorded the motion and voted to direct staff to report back; council members emphasized the study should be done quickly to inform any future rate changes.
The ordinance text read at the meeting contains detailed line items for multiple funds; the meeting transcript contains some figure transcriptions that appear truncated or misformatted when read aloud. Council and staff said the ordinance as submitted balances revenues, reserves and appropriations as required by law; the official ordinance document filed with the city contains the definitive budget figures.
Next steps: Ordinance 9-34 was approved on first reading; state law and the city’s codified timeline require additional steps before final adoption. The water-rate study now assigned to staff is expected to return to council with recommendations to close the water fund gap.