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Rawlins staff warn FY2027 budget leaves spendable general-fund reserves negative
Summary
At a May 5 work session, the city’s finance director said proposed FY2027 revenue (~$13.34M) and accounting for capital/restricted funds leave the city short of the nine-month reserve target and that enterprise funds similarly show negative spendable balances; council scheduled follow-up sessions and discussed fee adjustments and capital priorities.
Finance Director Laura told the Rawlins City Council during a May 5 work session that the city’s proposed FY2027 general fund revenue is about $13,338,000 but that, after accounting for capital and restricted funds, the city’s spendable general-fund reserves are negative when compared with the nine‑month reserve target.
"In actual spendable reserves right now in the general fund, we are a negative," Laura said, explaining the city’s calculation that nine months of spending equates to roughly $10,000,000. She also noted that the city projects a modest increase in direct distribution from the state (about $124,000) and that the first quarter included roughly $1.6 million in grant awards to support capital projects.
The finance presentation reviewed revenue assumptions (property taxes, oil and mineral forecasts, charges for services) and identified areas that will require more discussion: whether to absorb or pass through credit-card processing fees, how to define taxi/ride‑share fees in the fee schedule, and the status of carryover capital such as a previously budgeted fire truck.
City Manager Matt Hall and staff outlined the next steps: three additional budget work sessions (May 7, May 11 and May 14) with a final adoption deadline of midnight on June 16 under state statute. Councilors asked for clarifications on the IT and HR organizational changes, the potential to update the HR manual, and options for funding multi-year capital items such as a fire apparatus.
On fees, staff recommended council consider a convenience fee to recover credit-card processing costs (examples discussed included a roughly 2.5% convenience fee for credit-card payments) and asked council to decide whether to classify Uber/Lyft-style services under taxi licensing and fees. Finance staff also proposed consolidating some public-records research fees into a clearer public-records request structure to reduce confusion about hourly versus flat fees.
Laura reiterated that the budget is a work in progress and invited council members to submit suggested changes quickly because a tentative budget must be filed on May 15. The city manager noted that all budget materials are public and that sessions are streamed and archived for public review.
