Tiburon Council Adopts 2026–27 Budget Despite Calls to Delay Pending Audits

Tiburon Town Council adopted the 2026–27 municipal budget on a unanimous roll call after members and members of the public pressed for more current audited financials and routine reporting.

Resident Evan Seagull urged the council to delay approval until essential financial information, projections and audited figures were available, telling the council, "I would encourage you as the council to put off any decision in terms of approving this budget and to actually consult with the town attorney before any budget vote is taken." Colin Crawford and other commenters reiterated that the town is several years behind on audits and asked the council to set a deadline for producing unaudited actuals and to pursue timely audits.

Council members voiced shared concerns about lagging audit work and the lack of monthly actuals. Council Member Ryan said he intended to vote for the budget at this meeting but asked staff to return with an agenda item to consider forming or reactivating a finance committee and to publish current actuals and a plan for completing outstanding audits. "My plan is to vote to approve the budget for next year at this meeting without amendments," Ryan said while urging a prompt follow‑up.

The council voted to adopt the budget as presented and directed staff to report on audit progress and to place a finance‑oversight discussion on the August agenda. Several council members proposed either an expanded budget and finance subcommittee or a citizen finance committee to speed analysis and public presentation of budget actuals and longer‑term reserves planning.

Next steps: staff will compile and publish available unaudited actuals as soon as feasible, report the audit‑completion plan at the August meeting, and bring back options for a budget/finance committee to support public reporting and oversight.