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City manager previews 2026–27 budget; residents urge restoring deep proposed library cuts
Summary
City Manager Mike Sarowine briefed the council on audit-driven adjustments that reduced the general fund and proposed a new library model (one head librarian plus volunteers); residents and speakers cited Oregon statute 357.621 and urged public hearings and restoration of funding.
City Manager Mike Sarowine presented a preview of the 2026–27 budget at the Cottage Grove City Council meeting, describing substantial accounting corrections and short-term reductions that shaped a tight general fund and a set of proposed service changes—most notably a restructured library model and deep cuts to library staffing.
Sarowine said delayed audits and discovered accounting errors in fiscal-year 2023–24 required corrections that reduced the city’s current-year budget by $4.54 million through capital reductions (about $2.52 million), reduced ending fund balances and other adjustments. He said staff implemented new procedures to prevent recurrence and that the objective is to close the general-fund gap over a three-year process.
As an example of program impacts, he described a proposed model that would move the library from a multi-staff operation to a model with a single full-time head librarian supported principally by community volunteers. Sarowine framed the idea as one of several options intended to keep the facility open while matching staffing to constrained resources.
Residents in the public-comment period pushed back. Several speakers, including Fred Colan and Lisa Kan, criticized the process used to develop the proposed library changes and requested greater transparency and stakeholder engagement. Attorney and library advocate Lisa Kan cited Oregon Revised Statute 357.621, which she read into the record and said requires at least two public hearings at least 90 days apart before a governing body withdraws support for a public library; she argued the proposed staffing and budget cuts could qualify as "withdrawing support." Colan and other speakers urged council to provide a plain-English executive summary of the accounting errors and to explore alternative funding and volunteer models.
Resident Christina Shu provided numbers comparing the proposed 2026–27 library budget (stated in public comment as $244,000) with prior-year levels (about $500,000), asserting a roughly $306,000 (56%) reduction and asking council to consider using contingency funds or transfers instead of making abrupt cuts. Other commenters (including Rob Dickinson) emphasized the library’s broad use for internet access, programming and services for children and seniors.
Sarowine also outlined other budget details: the city projects a bare-minimum unappropriated ending fund balance of $1.7 million for July 1, 2027 but is budgeting $1.6 million and $200,000 in contingency, raising concerns about exposure to unexpected costs. He estimated that a typical single-family household would see a combined water/sewer/storm utility bill increase of about $10.76 per month next year driven largely by rising operating costs. Sarowine described capital projects planned for 2026–27 (Riverwalk path, waterline replacement, storm drainage master plan, ADA lift at the Armory) and clarified that some events will receive in-kind rather than cash support.
Procedurally, council approved the consent agenda and unanimously voted to appoint the city manager as the budget officer and to cancel the April 27 council meeting because of scheduling conflicts. The council did not adopt a final budget at this meeting; the presentation served as a preview and invitation for public input ahead of the budget committee process.
