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Wymore City Council accepts departmental budgets; consultant flags reserve limits and tax-levy consideration
Summary
At a July 30 special meeting Wymore City Council reviewed departmental budget requests, accepted budgets across municipal departments and funds, and heard from consultant John Winter, who said cash reserves should be kept below 50% of expenditures and urged the council to consider the annual tax levy.
The Wymore City Council met in a special budget session on July 30, 2025, and accepted proposed budgets for municipal departments and several city funds after a consultant outlined state budget requirements and reserve guidance.
John Winter of Lengemann and Associates briefed the council on recent changes to state budget requirements and recommended that the city's cash reserves be kept at less than 50% of budgeted expenditures. Winter described Capital Acquisition Accounts and special funds such as MFO and MMA as tools the council could use and asked the council to consider options for this year's tax levy. "Our cash reserves must be less than 50% of our budgeted expenditures," Winter told the council and he left documentation of the changes and his notes for follow-up.
Councilmembers then reviewed departmental requests. The Cemetery Board reported line-item changes related to moving invoice processing into the city office, said a new cemetery directory is nearly finished and that a new fence is planned; the board said the fence work will require competitive bids and they hope to pursue grant funding. The council accepted the Cemetery Budget and agreed to place further Cemetery-account discussion on the next agenda.
City Clerk Janet Riensche noted a typo in the Library budget line item 5822, which should read $4,200 rather than $2,200; the Council accepted the Library Budget. Department Head Austin Jackson said he hopes to renovate the library basement for programs and will seek grant funding for that work.
The council accepted the Police Department budget and both the EMS and EMS Special budgets. For the Fire Department the council accepted the department's budget and agreed to eliminate the separate Fire B&E budget, folding those items into the main Fire Department Budget.
After discussing pool staff wages, the council raised the Pool salaries and FICA line items to accommodate future raises and accepted the Pool Special budget. The Community Center Budget was accepted with an increase to salaries. The Parks Department Budget was accepted after the council increased the improvements line to fund work on the McCandles Park ball field.
The council also accepted enterprise and fund budgets: Street Lighting; the Street Fund (with increased salary line); Water Fund; Sewer Fund (with increased salary line); Light Fund; and the General Budget.
Councilmember Sue Sapp moved to adjourn; the meeting was recorded as adjourning at 10:00 PM. Meeting minutes were signed by Mayor Collin Meints and City Clerk Janet Riensche.
The meeting set spending levels for the coming period; council members and staff noted multiple items still requiring follow-up, including formal bids for the cemetery fence, any grant applications for cemetery or library projects, and the council’s decision on the tax levy following final valuation adjustments.
