Council committee reviews 2026 budget; members press staff on staffing, sponsorships and streets spending

The City Council Committee of the Whole spent its special session reviewing the proposed 2026 budget and asked staff to return with accounting corrections and more detailed line‑item explanations.

Councilor Paulson led multiple line‑by‑line questions about community development, parks, public safety and street budgets, asking whether certain increases reflected real planned work or were artifacts of prior calculation errors or budget coding. On the community development budget, Paulson flagged a $30,500 increase in the professional services account to cover SEH and asked whether that level is necessary if some projects slow; staff said the number was reduced from earlier proposals but agreed to recheck forecasting for internal projects and travel lines that show no recent expenditures.

Paulson also questioned why the fire department shows a $647,000 salary increase alongside a $25,000 overtime increase. Staff said errors in the 2025 calculations had been corrected and that the department’s budget was adjusted to reflect realistic staffing and pay projections. On police…