Freeport staff proposes June and July workshops to vet FY2026–27 budget; council approves dates

City staff recommended that the Freeport City Council set two budget workshop dates — June 13 and July 11, 2026 — to provide thorough, line-by-line review of departmental requests and to improve transparency and collaboration during the FY2026–27 budget development process.

Ms. Hurst, presenting staff’s proposal, told the council the June session would include a detailed PowerPoint and a comprehensive review of financials and departmental requests; council would provide feedback, staff would update the draft, and the July session would review those changes before moving into final adoption steps in August and September. "We're going to go line by line for all the financials," Ms. Hurst said.

Council members discussed logistics and public access: the workshops were described as open to the public and likely to be broadcast; council debated whether holding long sessions on Saturdays was acceptable. Proposed start and end times were not finalized in the record; staff suggested an approximate window of 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. but said time would be set later.

Councilman Davis moved to accept the recommended workshop dates; Councilman Rosso seconded and the motion was called for a vote. The council recorded support for the schedule and instructed staff to finalize times and publish access details.

Staff said the process aims to ensure council review well before tax-rate and adoption deadlines and to give residents an opportunity to observe detailed budget deliberations.