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Stayton council adopts biennial budget ordinance after 3–2 vote
Summary
The Stayton City Council approved Ordinance 1070 on second reading to adopt a biennial budget cycle and require an annual budget committee meeting, passing 3–2 after councilors expressed concerns about reduced oversight and staff time savings. The ordinance includes limits on council unilateral fund changes.
The Stayton City Council voted 3–2 to adopt Ordinance 1070, changing the city’s budget cycle from annual to biennial while requiring the budget committee to meet annually for mid‑biennium review.
Finance Director James Brand told the council the ordinance was amended per council discussion to change a provision from “may” to “shall” to require a budget‑committee meeting around Aug. 1 of odd years and added a section clarifying the committee would review budget status and could make adjustments. Brand said the change would save roughly 1,000 staff hours and would align the city’s cycle with the state biennium where feasible.
Opponents said the shift reduces council oversight. Councilor Ort said she favored annual budgets and objected that the change “gives up” some council power to oversee spending. Councilor Giulio warned biennial budgets can lead to overly conservative spending and reduce opportunities for voters and councilors to change priorities each year. Supporters, including Councilor Sims and Councilor Patty, emphasized staff time savings and the ability to conduct annual check‑ins.
The ordinance preserves procedural limits on unilateral changes: Brand explained the council may reallocate up to 9% of a fund; any change exceeding 10% requires the full budget committee to meet. He also said committee terms would be extended from three to four years to align membership cycles, and the department kickoff for preparing the new budget schedule begins Jan. 7 with software work to follow.
The measure passed after a recorded roll call: Councillor Sims, Councillor McDonald and Councillor Patty voted yes; Councillor Ort and Councillor Giulio voted no. The council directed staff to monitor outcomes and bring concerns back to the council if the biennial process proves problematic.
Next step: staff will implement the ordinance language, begin software updates and schedule the committee’s mid‑biennium meeting; the council may revisit the process in future sessions if operational or oversight concerns arise.
