Page council hears department-by-department FY27 priorities as city prepares budget

Page’s City Council convened a special work session Feb. 5 to hear a series of department briefings that will shape next year’s budget, with staff outlining accomplishments from fiscal 2025 and asking council to consider funding options for FY27.

The session opened with a brief public‑safety briefing. The city’s police leadership reported staffing and accreditation updates and signaled a request to the council for investments in a real‑time crime center to support license‑plate readers, cameras and drone capability. Assistant Police Chief Larry Jones told council the department now has accreditation across multiple programs and is relying on civilian crime‑scene specialists to keep sworn officers on patrol.

City Manager framed the day’s presentations as a first pass at priorities that will inform this spring’s budget calendar. He emphasized affordable‑housing work (including a housing study), capital projects such as infrastructure and parks, emergency planning and a potential north‑end fire station that staff say would cut response times.

Finance Director Linda reported the city’s cash and investment position to council and noted an emergency reserve of roughly $12 million. Linda said about $16.5 million is budgeted in active grant awards for FY26, and departments plan to return departmental budgets to finance by the March deadlines for department submittals.

Department directors then presented highlights and near‑term requests. The airport director outlined a federally funded terminal renovation and taxi‑lane and airfield projects, and the airport’s desire to align air service work with runway constraints. Community Services and Library leaders described a busy year of programs for seniors, youth and visitors and raised immediate needs — notably plumbing problems at the community center that staff said are being triaged as a high priority. Parks and Trails described trail, Horseshoe Bend connectivity and splash‑pad work; Recreation and Special Events presented expanded leagues, programs and 2025 festivals that drew larger crowds.

Fire leaders said they are expanding in‑house training, expect to place three new hires on shift this month and continue to press for a long‑term solution to cramped station facilities and apparatus bay space. They noted an improved ISO rating that staff said will translate to long‑term insurance and readiness benefits.

Communications and tourism director Adam described a more data‑driven approach to marketing that will use new analytics platforms and hotel/short‑term rental intelligence to better target visitors and measure return on ad spend. He also proposed a printed visitor guide and stronger “story‑first” activations to promote lesser‑known nearby attractions.

The meeting included a long operations briefing for Horseshoe Bend, where staff outlined work to improve the parking surface, add shade and trailhead amenities, install conduit for cameras and utilities, and pursue a phase‑3 contact station with restrooms and water. Councilors discussed local‑pass and citizen days as possible options to support locals while preserving visitor flow.

Council members thanked staff for the breadth of presentations and were asked to expect follow‑up briefings, a May work session on the draft budget and final budget adoption by June. The council also asked staff to return with specific budget asks, options for phased projects, and more detailed metrics on tourism and public‑safety requests.