Gladwin City Council adopts FY2025–2026 budget, sets tax levies

Gladwin — The Gladwin City Council on June 2 adopted the city’s fiscal year 2025–2026 budget and general appropriations after a public hearing and roll-call votes.

City Treasurer Angela Bigham presented the proposed budget and Interim City Manager Kimberly Hines clarified line-item figures during the public hearing, which opened at 5:02 p.m. and closed at 5:20 p.m. On a motion to approve the budget by Council Member Darlington, supported by Council Member Platt, the council voted to adopt the plan; the subsequent formal resolution to adopt the budget and general appropriations passed as moved by Council Member Caffrey and supported by Council Member Winarski.

Why it matters: The adopted resolution sets the city’s tax levies for 2025–2026 (14.4772 mills for general operating purposes and 1.9990 mills for public safety) and authorizes transfers and limited intra‑fund adjustments by staff. The resolution cites Article XIV of the City Charter and Act 2 of the Michigan Public Acts of 1968 as authority for the process.

Key figures: The published budget schedules in the record show a proposed General Fund total revenue of $2,246,809 and total expenditures of $2,700,279 for 2025–2026, leaving an ending fund balance listed as $1,384,760. The record includes line‑by‑line projections for the Cemetery Trust, Major Street, Local Street, Public Safety and other funds. The DNR grant/trail extension fund appears in the documents with previously budgeted federal and local contributions removed from the 2025–2026 proposals.

Votes at a glance: The budget hearing was opened by motion of Council Member Gutierrez (supported by Caffrey) and closed by motion of Gutierrez (supported by Winarski). The motion to approve the budget during the hearing was moved by Darlington and supported by Platt; the formal adoption resolution was moved by Caffrey and supported by Winarski. Roll-call records submitted in the meeting materials indicate unanimous ayes on the budget motions as recorded by the clerk.

Other formal actions: The council approved two DPW memoranda of understanding (with Roger Willford and Joseph Zeitz), approved the 2025–2026 Capital Improvement Plan, authorized attendance and mileage for the Michigan Municipal League (MML) Academy Spring Summit, and approved a Fishbeck professional services agreement. Those items were approved by motions recorded in the meeting minutes; where roll calls were recorded they are noted in the official minutes.

Process and next steps: The resolution authorizes the City Treasurer to make transfers between funds as required by the adopted budget and allows the City Administrator to transfer up to $5,000 between functions within the same fund without further council action. The minutes certify that the public hearing was published in advance and that the resolution was adopted at the June 2 meeting.

Quotes and context: Interim City Manager Kimberly Hines told the council that the city’s "transparency page is live on the city website" and said she would present further IT updates to the Committee of the Whole on June 26. Attorney Michael Gildner, participating by Zoom, stated that "the interim has the same authority as a city manager," noting the interim’s legal standing while the city proceeds with its recruitment process.

What the record does not specify: Individual vote tallies naming every voting member are not consistently listed for each item in the minutes text; where the record duplicates a name in a roll call, that duplication is reflected in the minutes. Specifics about the removed DNR trail funding (e.g., whether funds were reallocated or the project paused) are not detailed in the meeting transcript and are listed in the materials as zeroed amounts for 2025–2026.