Harrisville outlines FY2027 budget: revenues projected higher, wage adjustments and impact‑fee projects planned

Mayor (Speaker 1) convened a work session to review the proposed FY2027 budget, during which finance staff presented updated revenue and expenditure projections and the results of a recent wage study.

Finance staff (identified in the meeting as Jill, Speaker 2) told the council the city’s general fund revenues are projected to increase about 9% while overall expenditures are forecast to fall roughly 5% compared with the prior year. "Our revenues have increased 9% overall, what I'm projecting," Jill said, and she added that the administration aims to keep projections conservative because some grant and development receipts remain uncertain.

Why it matters: the lift in projected receipts gives the city room in the draft budget for targeted personnel adjustments and pay‑range changes without immediately increasing the property‑tax rate. Staff said the budget also relies on a mix of restricted impact fees and sales tax to pay for new buildings and ongoing capital needs.

Key details

- Revenue assumptions: Sales tax growth is modeled conservatively despite new housing and retail development; staff cautioned they intentionally used modest sales‑tax increases to avoid over‑projecting. Jill said franchise-tax revenue is expected to rise by about $40,000 in the coming year.

- Wage study and personnel: A wage study presented to the council found multiple employees across administration, police and public works below their market ranges. Staff proposed bringing those "red" employees up to the minimum of their assigned pay ranges; the draft budget includes a proposed cost‑of‑living adjustment of about 3% with up to 2% available for merit, subject to eligibility. "The budget that has been presented to you tonight includes bringing the red employees up to the lowest pay range," Jill said.

- Staffing and reallocation: Staff noted the city is short an employee in both police and public works and recommended redistributing responsibilities where practical rather than immediately adding permanent headcount. Jill proposed assigning additional hours to her administrative assistant to handle code‑enforcement outreach and the crossing‑guard vacancy.

- Capital and restricted funds: Staff walked the council through restricted funds and impact‑fee balances. The proposed financing plan uses impact fees and bond interest for some capital projects; staff identified a first‑year payment of about $879,000 associated with a recently planned public‑safety building, and said stormwater impact funds (reported at ~ $1,000,080) and sewer fund balances (~ $528,100) will fund identified projects. Council discussed audit and legal constraints on how restricted impact fees may be spent.

- Motor pool and equipment: The motor pool repayment schedule was flagged as a significant increase in the public works budget; staff said the repayments will cover two smaller plow trucks and other fleet replacements and are structured to be repaid over time by the departments that use the vehicles.

- Court services: Councilors asked whether outsourcing the municipal court could save money. Staff noted previous tri‑city discussions and vendor interest but warned contracting could reduce local control and would not eliminate statutory obligations; staff said state law and settlement rules determine how much of fines remain local and that much is remitted to the state.

Council direction and next steps

Council members asked staff to refine items that remain provisional (anticipated grants, impact‑fee realizations and the legal‑services contract). Staff said a new legal‑services contract will come before the council on the April 14 agenda and that the proposed budget includes the anticipated cost for that contract. The council also discussed scheduling a single public hearing for budget adoption and meeting the state truth‑in‑taxation timelines; staff said the city must adopt an interim budget by the new property‑tax deadlines and complete final adoption in August.

The work session closed without a formal vote on the budget. A motion to adjourn was made and approved by voice vote.