Oconomowoc aldermen hear department budget priorities, staff ask for input ahead of May 19 meeting

Mayor convened the meeting and asked staff to brief aldermen on 2027 budget priorities and an updated strategic-plan workbook. Department heads summarized items they plan to bring forward for next year’s capital and operating budgets and asked council members to submit questions ahead of the May 19 Committee of the Whole.

Why it matters: The presentations set the frame for what the council will consider during formal budget deliberations. Staff asked aldermen to use the seven-page strategic-workbook in the packet as a starting point and to return suggested priorities in writing so departments can prepare for the next meeting.

Finance director Steve Pfister told aldermen the department’s priorities focus on improving reporting and monthly budgeting comparisons and exploring vendor support for the city’s ERP. “We may want some support from our software vendor, Tyler’s, our ERP system provider,” Pfister said, describing requests that could appear in the operating budget. He flagged exploratory work on AI tools to enhance reporting.

Human resources reported no budget increase requests for 2027 beyond routine operations. Tony, the HR lead, said the department is relying on systems installed in prior years — including NeoGov for applicant tracking and Tyler for payroll — and noted automation of the benefits-enrollment process is expected to be cost-neutral.

Elections staff said a two-year election cycle reduces election-worker wage needs but emphasized capital planning for presidential-year volumes, including moving forward on Badger Books electronic poll books "to help us be able to process our absentee ballots" and to speed voter check-ins.

The police chief outlined a staffing proposal funded by prior savings: using $137,000 (salary and benefits) of realized savings to add about $9,000 as part of creating a new sworn-officer position for 2027. He also described pursuing grants to replace seven-year-old body and squad cameras and estimated the upgraded system could raise annual camera-related costs (from about $40,000 to as much as $60,000), with outside grant-writing support under consideration.

Western Lakes Fire District leadership told council the McMahon facilities and impact-fee study recommends a 15,000-square-foot station (10,000 operational, 5,000 administrative) and suggested municipalities could fund up to 85% of that cost through impact fees if an ordinance is adopted. The district also asked for municipal support letters for federal grant opportunities and urged municipalities to implement standardized, visible address signage to reduce emergency-response time.

Public works outlined major 2027 projects — including Lake Drive safety work near the middle school, multi-year phases on Lisbon and 2nd Street, and signal-design work in coordination with the state DOT — and emphasized coordination with utilities when scheduling roads and underground work.

Planning reported a recent hire (Robin Grams, associate planner), ongoing GIS work and a likely request of $30,000–$40,000 in 2027 to publish and maintain a public-facing GIS site. ‘‘I just saved you $2,000–$3,000,’’ Jason Gallo said, describing how the city’s internal GIS can help residents avoid survey costs by creating simple maps for small projects, and adding that the public-facing tool has broader resident value.

Utility managers described work to replace public-side lead service laterals (510 public laterals remain) and noted private-side replacements average about $5,000 each (about 599 private laterals remaining), discussed mass-meter changeouts to meet PSC compliance, and stressed lead times for large electrical equipment procurement.

Staff closed the presentations by asking aldermen to send questions to Mark so departments can prepare supplemental information for the May 19 Committee of the Whole, when council members will set priorities for the 2027 budget.

The committee adjourned to the council meeting agenda that followed.