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Finance committee recommends draft 2026 budget to Village Board after full review
Summary
The Fredonia finance committee reviewed the village's draft 2026 operating budget, heard fund-by-fund presentations from Chris (budget presenter), and voted to recommend the draft to the Village Board for final consideration; the plan relies on a mix of modest rate increases, fund-balance spend-downs and limited borrowing.
The Fredonia Finance Committee recommended the draft 2026 annual operating budget to the Village Board on a voice vote after a line-by-line presentation and discussion.
Chris, who presented the budget to the committee, walked members through revenues and expenses across the general fund, utilities and capital projects. He told the committee that net general fund revenues in the draft total $1,751,000, 1% lower than the prior year, and that increased assessed values (including Hillcrest lot reclassifications and improvements) should allow a proposed mill rate reduction from $5.08 to about $4.69 while keeping levy collections roughly unchanged.
The presentation outlined several fund-level changes: a 3% water rate increase already approved by the board, a 24.6% sewer rate increase reflected in the sewer utility plan, and modest adjustments across public works, parks and general government. Chris said state shared revenues rose after Act 12 adjustments to sales-tax distributions and that local transportation aid increased under a DOT six-year formula tied to road spending.
On expenses, the committee heard that general government costs include a small uptick for ordinance codification and legal services and that new audit contract costs have been spread across funds. Public works payroll is allocated by crew timesheets; highway equipment wages were highlighted as higher because of anticipated road work. Parks funding will increase to support a one-year parks plan prepared by a new staff hire (referred to in the meeting as Simon).
Committee members pressed on some utility and capital items. Chris noted the water utility will carry a large cash balance (about $1 million) but only a modest contingency going forward and cautioned that major water-tower maintenance is several years out. For capital projects, the presenter explained moving some purchases to cash (for example, buying a brine tank with cash rather than CIP funds) to reduce borrowing and build reserves for future needs such as an ambulance purchase.
On the fire and paramedic side, the committee heard that the paramedic fund received intergovernmental contributions from four participating municipalities; the draft includes hiring a full-time paramedic in 2026 and a modest planned spend-down of that fund's balance to cover near-term costs. Chris also described using a fire fund balance to pay off a pumper truck lease to improve future borrowing capacity for an ambulance.
Following discussion, a motion to recommend the draft 2026 annual operating budget to the Village Board was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. The committee's recommendation will be forwarded to the Village Board, which will receive the budget book once remaining TID numbers and a pending state item are finalized; if those arrive in time the budget book could be ready for the Oct. 16 meeting, otherwise presentation to the board and a public hearing are likely in November so tax bills can still be issued on schedule.
The committee did not adopt any final board-level ordinances or borrowing authorizations at this meeting; the vote was strictly a recommendation for the Village Board to review and act upon.
