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Sunbury council adopts 2026 budget, wage schedule, roadway safety plan and a set of TIF measures
Summary
At its Dec. 17 meeting the Sunbury City Council approved the 2026 fiscal-year budget and wage-and-salary ordinance, adopted a roadway safety action plan funded by a grant, approved multiple TIF-related ordinances on an expedited schedule, and updated special-event and rental policies.
Sunbury City Council on Dec. 17 adopted a package of budget, personnel, land-use and safety measures while approving several administrative appointments.
Council voted unanimously to adopt the city’s 2026 spending ordinance covering the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, 2026, and ending Dec. 31, 2026. The council also approved ordinance 2026.02, which establishes the city’s wage and salary structures for 2026. Both measures passed on third reading during roll-call votes recorded as unanimous.
In a separate action, the council adopted resolution 2025.28, accepting a roadway safety action plan presented by Verdantus and directing city staff to pursue implementation. Council members noted the plan was paid for with grant funding. That resolution passed by roll call with all members voting in favor.
Economic development measures were advanced on an expedited schedule. Council declared an emergency and approved ordinance 2025.37—establishing a municipal public-improvement tax increment equivalent fund and related service-payment arrangements for a project the administration said must be in place before the county auditor’s year‑end assessment. Council also approved, as an emergency, ordinance 2025.35 accepting a right-of-way easement from Sunbury Development LLC. Council read, as a first/reading-only action, ordinance 2025.36 authorizing execution of a TIF reimbursement agreement with Sunray Development LLC; that item was not voted on.
City administration presented updates to the special-event permit and town-hall rental policies, consolidating scattered rules and adding a substantive change: the city will not issue refunds for rentals canceled because of inclement weather but will provide a credit toward a future rental. Council voted to adopt those policy updates unanimously.
Other approved procedural items included appointing Melissa Graziano as alternate clerk of council and canceling the Dec. 31, 2025 council meeting. After reconvening from executive session, the council appointed Mark Long to a two‑year council position beginning Jan. 1, 2026; that appointment passed 6–0 with one abstention. Several board and commission appointments (planning and zoning, board of zoning and appeals, joint recreation district, personnel board of appeals) were approved in a single motion.
No formal vote was taken on resolution 2025.30, a resolution authorizing the city administrator to apply to the Ohio Department of Transportation for a Safe Routes to School travel plan; it was listed for first reading only.
The council’s roll-call votes were recorded throughout the meeting and, unless otherwise noted, items described above passed by unanimous votes when roll call was taken. The council indicated some items were advanced as emergencies due to timing with the county auditor and project construction schedules.
