Herington commission votes to notify intent to exceed revenue-neutral rate at 87 mills pending staff review

Commissioners spent substantial time debating the 2026 budget and whether to notify an intent to exceed the county-calculated revenue-neutral rate.

City Manager (Unidentified Speaker S5) presented a draft budget and emphasized the limited flexibility after prior years' cuts. Commissioners gave their maximum acceptable levy figures in the discussion (examples cited during the meeting included 81, 85, 90 and 95 mills). The presiding official (Unidentified Speaker S1) summarized the range and said the five commissioners' average would be about 87.2 mills.

An unidentified commissioner (Unidentified Speaker S3) moved that the commission "take action on the resolution ... to exceed the revenue neutral rate for 2026 to 87 mills pending staff review" and to authorize the mayor's signature; that motion was seconded by the presiding official. The chair noted the resolution will need to be corrected to reflect the county clerk's calculation before it is signed. The commission then made a separate motion to set a public hearing for the combined revenue-neutral-rate and budget hearing on Sept. 2 at 6 p.m.; that notice motion passed with recorded 'Aye' votes.

The manager urged staff preparedness for both paths: an 'exceed' notification and a revenue-neutral option, so the commission can respond to public input and final staff adjustments. "Once we do have the public hearings, comments that are received could also still change your mind," S1 said.

Next steps: staff will revise the resolution to reflect official county figures, prepare supporting documentation for the 87-mill notice if the commission finalizes it, and publish notice for the Sept. 2 public hearing.