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Mayor previews Brandon draft FY26 budget with targeted increases for sewer, cemetery and library
Summary
City leaders presented a draft FY26 budget that includes a $658,000 net increase in the sewer fund, $40,000 added to cemetery rehab, roughly $33,000 for library work and capital requests for CCTV sewer inspection and vehicles; staff emphasized the draft will be finalized after four nights of review and a public hearing.
The mayor opened a multi-night budget workshop and framed the session as an informational review of draft FY26 department budgets, saying staff would finalize a public hearing date and that the draft proposes no millage increase.
Tracy summarized department-by-department changes in the draft. "We've had a total increase of $40,000 from last year," she said of the cemetery budget, adding the increase is split roughly between old-cemetery rehabilitation and engineering costs. On the library, Tracy said the budget shows about a $33,000 increase driven by carryover items and planned lighting and carpet improvements.
On sanitation, Tracy said the draft shows a net change of approximately $96,000 from FY25 to FY26, with about $7,300 tied to personnel and the remainder linked to the sanitation contract, which charges per household. Jeremy said the contract amount varies with the number of rooftops and that staff will provide an exact house-count figure at the next meeting.
Tracy said the sewer fund shows a substantial net increase — about $658,000 — that includes roughly $66,000 for personnel and roughly $400,000 related to contract work, specifically CCTV inspection and smoke testing. The mayor described an extended program of cameraing and smoke testing after downtown residents reported sewer odors. "We estimate, let's just say, it's 5 gallons a minute coming in there," the mayor said when illustrating the scale of inflow they found while inspecting a line under Crossgates Lake.
Jeremy outlined contractor cost estimates for the CCTV work, saying the vendor quote was about $10 per linear foot and that a local quote for a subdivision area (Hartseas) came in around $61,000 for roughly 6,000 linear feet. Staff and the mayor warned that some repairs will be highly invasive and may require tearing up and repaving streets; they said the city will seek to recover costs when utility work (horizontal boring) damages sewer lines.
The street budget includes several MPO projects the city has put into the FY26 draft. Tracy said the city included the federal portion of three MPO projects (to be reimbursed at an anticipated federal share) and local matching funds for improvements including Stonegate, Woodgate and the Highway 18 signal near the high school. Staff noted options for the traffic-signal repair and said permanent fixes could carry different price tags depending on chosen technology.
On water, Tracy said water administration rose by about $33,000 mainly because of personnel changes and new recurring software and call-center fees. Staff also proposed budgeting for replacement water meters (standard meters discussed around $400 each; larger commercial meters and remote meters are pricier) and for capital items such as a mini excavator and trench boxes.
Throughout the workshop, staff and the mayor emphasized the draft nature of the materials. The mayor said the town will publish a final budget and hold a public hearing before adoption, and he reminded the group that upcoming nights would review police, fire and other departmental budgets.
No formal motions or votes were recorded during this session; staff said they will present final numbers and a public hearing date after the multi-night review.
