Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council committee reviews 2026 budget; members press staff on staffing, sponsorships and streets spending
Summary
The City Council Committee of the Whole reviewed the proposed 2026 budget line-by-line, with Councilor Paulson pressing staff on professional services, sponsorship revenue declines, marketing under‑spend, and apparent salary increases in fire, streets and other departments; staff agreed to corrections and follow‑up.
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 staffing, staff explained a $135,347 reduction in full‑time salary budget assumed the department will not be fully staffed in 2026, with overtime increased to cover current shifts.
Sponsorship revenue drew particular attention after staff noted an $80,000 projected drop, in part because final scoreboard sponsorship payments have been made and will not recur. Paulson asked the city to separate long‑term naming rights from annual or monthly sponsorships (for example, building signs or scoreboard/dasboards) so the forecast distinguishes recurring revenue from one‑time receipts. Staff explained that Chevy Arena purchased dasher boards and sells associated sponsorships but that the city is still budgeting the expected revenue; Toyota Arena dashboard revenue goes to the city and some dashboard revenue flows into the ITMEC budget.
On marketing, Paulson said a $60,000 line item had only seen $26,000 in use and suggested trimming the appropriation if funds will go unspent; the chair and staff replied that marketing is needed to attract events to the Iron Turm Moise Events Center and emphasized that staff had deliberately underspent marketing in 2025 to reduce the facility’s operating deficit. Staff said the 2026 budget will present more accurate figures intended to avoid using reserves to cover recurring expenses.
Street and public works accounting prompted continued questions. Paulson pointed to a jump in streets salaries from roughly $880,000 in 2024 actuals to a $1,122,000 2026 budget and asked whether that increase—about $56,000—was justified when year‑to‑date spending is lower. Staff said 2025 actuals reflect being short‑staffed and that the larger 2026 number assumes fully staffed positions and raises negotiated with AFSCME; staff also explained some salaries are budgeted centrally in streets and posted to snow removal or other work lines when hours are worked, producing apparent variances in year‑to‑date actuals.
Other items discussed included a $20,000 increase for salt and sand in ice/snow removal, a $100,000 capital outlay for five street‑globe lights approved previously and payable in 2026, and a $102,000 increase in equipment parts attributed to aging equipment that requires custom fabrication. Paulson requested a breakdown of the equipment parts spending so the council can evaluate whether costs can be managed differently.
Recreation items were clarified: council asked staff to separate the figure‑skating program operating costs from the figure‑skating show expenses (costumes, choreography, ticketing). Staff said both lines are covered by program revenue. The chair asked whether the tennis facility user agreement and the golf course professional contract would be reflected in the budget; staff said tennis negotiations were approved as a next step while the golf professional agreement amount remains to be finalized.
The meeting produced a list of accounting adjustments that councilors asked staff (Bridal and Megan) to pursue; with no further questions the committee adjourned at 11:29 a.m.
The committee directed staff to return with corrected pages and requested line‑by‑line back‑up for professional services, equipment parts, sponsorship classifications and snow/streets coding before final adoption of the 2026 budget.
