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Fond du Lac presents conservative 2027 budget forecast as levy and expenditure limits bite
Summary
City Manager Joe Moore and Director Tricia Davey told the council the preliminary 2027 budget will be shaped by state-imposed levy limits and expenditure restraint, a conservative 0.5% net new construction forecast, and priorities for public safety and infrastructure while keeping no new positions and tight non-personnel increases.
City Manager Joe Moore told the Fond du Lac City Council on July 8 that the city’s preliminary 2027 budget is built on conservative revenue assumptions and constrained by state levy limits and the expenditure restraint program.
"We put our financial priorities into primarily four departments," Moore said, noting public safety, public works and community development will receive priority while the city maintains a stronger reserve position and has used only 42% of its debt capacity. He said staff forecasted a 0.5% net new construction figure for 2027 "to be extremely cautious" and that number will influence how much the levy can grow.
The presentation by Director of Administration Tricia Davey outlined operating and capital-improvement-plan (CIP) priorities. Davey said wage and benefit costs remain the largest drivers of the budget, that departments were directed to hold non-personnel requests to a 0% year-over-year increase, and that the proposed budget will include no new positions for 2027. She said the budget to be published in August will be followed by a special deliberation workshop in September.
Moore framed the budget choices as trade-offs required by state law. "Levy limits create a cap on how much money we can raise. Expenditure restraint is how much we can spend," he said, adding the city earned a $1,000,000 state reward in 2026 for staying within the expenditure restraint limits.
Davey also summarized sources and uses: shared revenue and the property tax levy are the two largest revenue sources, and water and wastewater funds remain enterprise funds supported by ratepayers rather than general-tax dollars. The council was reminded the tax levy approved in November will be the formal action item later in the process; Moore said the administration will lay out the detailed numbers in the August budget book and follow-up workshops.
Council members asked questions about the assumptions. Councilmember Zimmerman asked how utilities were forecasted amid volatile energy markets; Davey said staff used higher-side estimates to preserve flexibility. Moore said the conservative net new construction forecast reflects recent development trends and reuse of existing commercial buildings.
The council did not take any final votes on the operating budget at the meeting; Moore and Davey will present department-level requests in the coming weeks as outlined in the budget schedule.
