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Council reviews preliminary FY2026–27 budget; plans two grant-funded traffic officers and a $172,000 reserve transfer
Summary
Council reviewed a preliminary FY2026–27 budget in workshop format, discussing two grant-funded traffic positions (salaries only), use of roughly $172,000 from reserves to cover salaries while awaiting grant approval, impact-fee assumptions increased to 75 homes, and deferred capital requests across funds.
The Clinton City Council spent a workshop session reviewing the preliminary FY2026–27 budget after a two-hour, 10-minute finance-committee meeting. Committee members described the budget as ‘‘doable’’ but said it contains trade-offs that required postponing many capital requests.
Council discussed police staffing changes: a request for three officers prompted the committee and staff to pursue Chief Addison’s plan to add two traffic positions that would be funded by a grant covering only salaries and benefits. Council said it would use reserve funds—approximately $172,000—to cover salaries while awaiting the grant decision; the city expects the grant would not cover vehicles or equipment, which the city would have to fund. Council also noted one surplus vehicle could allow a third patrol officer to be added immediately, while two additional cars would be needed for the traffic positions.
On revenue assumptions, staff said the budget team increased the impact-fee projection to account for 75 homes next year (up from an earlier 50-home assumption); council noted the city has already recorded roughly 52–53 houses this year. Staff provided a capital-requests summary showing roughly $1.1 million in general-fund capital requests with $228,000 accepted and about $925,000 postponed; utility-fund requests totaled about $1.9 million with about $680,000 accepted and about $1.27 million postponed.
Other items discussed included a $50,000 merit-bonus pool (with an estimated $35,000–$38,000 available after benefits), leased vehicles used primarily for police and two leased Tacomas for utility billing, and the municipal water filter plant, which staff said last had major work in the 1980s and is due for staged rehabilitation. Council also flagged backup diesel generators installed in the 1980s as nearing the end of their useful life and potentially costly to replace.
No formal votes were taken on the budget during the workshop; council framed the session as a review and asked staff to provide additional materials and clarification in subsequent meetings.
