Budget officer outlines FY 2526 trade-offs, playground grant and ARPA-funded water upgrades ahead of May 14 meeting

The city’s budget officer led a pre-meeting training for the budget committee, laying out the proposed FY 2526 budget, key revenue assumptions and the timeline for committee review and council adoption.

“This is a very significant process for the city as we develop kind of our priorities and how we're gonna be spending money in the future,” the budget officer said, describing the committee’s role in shaping priorities and identifying spending adjustments.

Why it matters: the budget officer said state-shared revenues are declining and expenditures are rising, requiring reductions to balance the budget. She said she made $190,000 in general-fund reductions in the proposed budget to reach structural balance and will present the details at the committee meeting.

On revenues and inflation, the budget officer said property tax revenue is being budgeted at about 3% growth and that utilities inflation is “up to 8%,” with other materials-and-services inflation discussed in the low-to-mid single digits (the transcript included a likely typographical error of “311%” when listing ranges).

She explained fund types and restrictions: the general fund is nonrestrictive and can be reallocated among programs, while the street fund and other funds (park improvement, water construction, sewer construction) are dedicated to specific uses such as street repairs, parks, or capital projects.

Grant and project highlights: the budget officer said the city received a grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for “just over $350,000” to replace playground equipment at Remedies Park and that federal ARPA funds allocated to the city are being used for a water upgrade project. She said ARPA-related work on the water upgrade is expected to be completed and funds spent by December 2026.

On infrastructure funds, she said the sewer fund supports wastewater operations and capital projects and noted recent legislative dollars were applied to lift-station improvements. The water construction fund will cover a current project to replace aging pipes and purchase new pumps; related invoices will be paid from that fund.

Compensation and staffing: the proposed budget includes a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for staff and provides for step increases; the officer also noted a police contract provision that includes a 4% cost-of-living increase that must be budgeted. She defined 1 FTE as a full-time position (40 hours per week) and characterized part-time FTEs as representing fewer hours than 1 FTE (a transcript line indicating part-time FTEs work “50 to 52 hours” appears inconsistent with that definition).

Process and deadlines: committee members will review the proposed budget with staff available to answer questions; if necessary, a second meeting can be scheduled. The committee will recommend an approved budget to city council, which will hold a public hearing and must adopt a final budget no later than June 30, 2025, the budget officer said.

Logistics: the budget officer confirmed the first budget committee meeting is scheduled for May 14 and that start time was confirmed during the session as 6:30 p.m. She said the budget document had just been finalized and would be posted to the city website soon.

The officer asked members to forward media inquiries to the chair or the budget officer and reiterated that individual committee members may speak personally but may not represent the committee unless authorized by a majority vote and the chair’s statement.

The session ended with brief participant questions and a closing thank you; the officer said she will provide more detail at the May 14 meeting.