Council and staff at the retreat used a facilitated, team-based exercise to identify and align the city's top priorities for the coming budget cycle.

After breakout discussions, teams presented mission-mandate-style language and then narrowed an initial long list to four priorities that will guide the 2026 budget process: (1) core services — with explicit inclusion of employee compensation and personnel stability; (2) housing; (3) economic vitality, including tourism, visitation, and small-business support; and (4) capital investments encompassing parks and recreation, forest health, climate resilience and infrastructure. The facilitator asked council to look for areas of overlap; staff said overlapping allocations would indicate areas of agreement where money may be concentrated.

Why it matters: those four pillars will shape staff recommendations for allocations during the February–April budget review, inform which programs receive one-time funding, and become the organizing frame for public materials as the city engages residents. Council members repeatedly emphasized that core services and public safety should not be hollowed out while new initiatives are considered.

What council said: participants described the exercise as helpful in exposing trade-offs and improving shared understanding. One council member explained that conversation shifted their own priorities after hearing how issues such as housing, forest health and public safety interact to affect small business and visitation.

Next steps: staff will slot requests and proposals against those four priorities when building the city manager’s recommended budget, and will return with more detailed program-level recommendations later in the process.