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Cottage Grove board adopts 2026 budget including $16.3 million police station project
Summary
The Village Board approved the 2026 budget after a public hearing; the spending plan includes a $16.3 million police station, about $1.5 million for roads/paths, and measures to preserve state expenditure-restraint eligibility.
The Cottage Grove Village Board voted Nov. 17 to adopt its 2026 budget, following a public hearing and staff presentation of the levy and capital projects. The board approved the resolution after a staff-proposed accounting change intended to maintain state expenditure-restraint program eligibility.
Village Administrator Matt outlined highlights during the hearing, saying the preliminary levy would translate to about a $110 tax impact for the average village property and that the capital program includes a new police station scheduled to break ground next spring. "The proposed capital budget highlights, most notably the new police station project, which is set to break ground ... That's a $16,300,000 project," Matt said. The draft also lists roughly $1.5 million for roads, sidewalks and bike paths and a little over $800,000 for vehicle and equipment replacement.
Cameron proposed a narrow accounting change to preserve the village's eligibility for the state's expenditure-restraint program; Cameron described removing a $10,000 building-permit revenue line and a corresponding expense to keep the village within the program's thresholds. "With that change, that would ensure that we would qualify for the 2027 expenditure restraint payment," Cameron said. The board accepted the staff recommendation and adopted the budget.
The operating budget reflects higher personnel-related costs driven by collective-bargaining agreements in public safety and EMS and some market adjustments for existing staff; Deer Grove EMS will increase administrative support from part-time to full-time, and the volunteer Cottage Grove Fire Department will move to a pay-per-call arrangement that has a budgeted impact in the village portion of costs.
Board approval allows staff to submit the levy and budget to Dane County ahead of the county's tax-bill mail deadline. The village will post detailed budget documents online as the administration finalizes TID increment numbers and other technical worksheets.
