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Broken Bow council adopts annual appropriation, sets property tax request and approves wage increases
Summary
The Broken Bow City Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 1300 (annual appropriation), approved Resolution 2025-16 setting the 2025-26 property tax request and adopted Ordinance 1301, which implements a 3% COLA and raises the city's minimum wage to $15 (effective Jan. 2026; the city plans to implement increases sooner).
Broken Bow's City Council unanimously approved the city's annual appropriation ordinance and related fiscal measures during a Sept. 23 meeting.
Mayor Rod Sonnichsen called the meeting to order at 5:25 p.m. and the council moved quickly through procedural business before taking up the budget. Councilmember Russ Smith moved to open a public hearing on Ordinance 1300, the annual appropriation bill; after no public comments were offered, the council suspended the statutory three-reading requirement and gave final passage by unanimous roll-call vote (Smith, Kleeb, Wamsley and Holland voting aye).
The council then opened and closed a public hearing on Resolution 2025-16 and approved it by unanimous roll-call vote. The resolution sets the city's property tax request for fiscal year 2025-26; the transcript records no public questions or comment during the hearing.
Administrator David Schmidt briefed the council on Ordinance 1301, which adjusts the city's salary schedules and pay ranges. Schmidt said the ordinance incorporates a 3% cost-of-living adjustment discussed during budget hearings and raises the city minimum wage to $15.00. Schmidt stated that the $15 minimum is officially effective Jan. 2026 but that the city plans to implement an increase earlier.
After the brief hearing, the council again suspended the three-reading rule for Ordinance 1301 and adopted it by unanimous roll-call vote.
Officials did not provide a line-item breakdown of the adopted appropriation in the meeting transcript; the record shows only the adoption motion and roll-call votes. The council approved routine consent items earlier in the meeting, including the Sept. 9 minutes, bills to date and the August 2025 Treasurer's Report.
What happens next: The ordinances and resolutions adopted Sept. 23 take effect according to the timelines in those documents; the wage change in Ordinance 1301 is written to take effect in January 2026, though city staff said they plan to accelerate implementation.
