Waverly council hears five-year infrastructure priorities as staff warns of revenue drop

City of Waverly staff laid out a five-year list of potential infrastructure projects at the Dec. 15 City Council meeting, emphasizing that declining rollback revenues will constrain what the city can fund in the near term.

"The drop in the rollback is a little concerning. It's severe," James, a city staff member leading the presentation, said, summarizing the budget outlook. Staff said declining rollback percentages mean the city will collect less general-fund revenue on the same set of properties even as assessed valuations increase.

Staff highlighted projects under consideration for 1–5 years of planning and construction. Major items included a phased replacement or renovation of the adjacent water building (to be done over multiple years), repair of 10th Avenue SW following damage from a detour associated with bridge work, cemetery-access roads to serve a recently expanded burial plot, and renovation of the golf-course clubhouse at a lower cost than a prior referendum proposal. The clubhouse renovation, staff said, could be funded with a combination of general obligation bonds and local-option sales tax without requiring a referendum.

On utilities, staff flagged the Heinz Addition water and sewer project — estimated at roughly $2.5 million and likely to use State Revolving Fund (SRF) financing — and urged completing remaining engineering phases before final decisions. An undersized lift station in the east side sewer system was identified as a high-priority project: engineering is complete and staff recommended bidding for the work soon to prevent continued overflows and equipment wear.

Staff also warned of substantial costs tied to trail and bridge work: repairs to the Ivanhoe/Interborough trail bridges and replacement of a large rail-trail bridge could total several million dollars. The presentation noted options to layer multiple debt instruments to keep levies stable, and that lower rollbacks, while reducing general-fund revenue, could increase the city’s debt capacity.

Council members asked about timeline priorities and funding sources. One councilmember urged staff to produce a clear priority list for the upcoming budget meeting and to break out funding sources for each project. "Give us staff in your priority list of what are the things that are more urgent, plus...what are the funding sources," a councilmember said.

Staff signaled they will return with detailed cost estimates and a prioritized chart for the Jan. 24 and Feb. 7 budget sessions. The council did not take formal action on any single project during the meeting; staff said many decisions will depend on valuation data arriving after the assessor’s January deadline and on finalized engineering estimates.

The next formal budget discussions are scheduled for late January and early February, when staff expects to present refined numbers and recommended priorities.