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Council approves temporary 2027 tax budget and debates keeping funds in general fund
Summary
Councilmembers approved a temporary (first-quarter) 2027 tax budget and discussed whether the town should leave more funds in its general "transfers out" reserve rather than allocating them line-by-line; staff said the temporary budget is drawn from the state system and will be updated when permanent figures are available.
The council approved a temporary 2027 tax budget to allow operations in the first quarter while staff prepares the permanent budget with finalized numbers.
A staff member explained the temporary document "is a report that's just generated out of my state system that I can go in and manually change. It allows us to start planning for our temporary budget for which is for the first quarter of 2027. That's all it does because the real budget is the permanent budget when we have actual numbers." Councilmembers discussed whether the municipality should leave more dollars in the general fund's transfers-out bucket — referenced by staff as "sort of like what they used to call your rainy day fund" — instead of allocating them to line items early in the process.
Councilmember Patricia asked whether this meeting was an appropriate entry point to begin broader conversations about changing budgeting practices. Councilmember Dustin and another member agreed the idea warranted future discussion and that earlier planning could reduce compressed timelines when preparing the permanent budget.
The council moved and approved the temporary budget by voice/roll call and encouraged staff to involve council members in upcoming steps of the permanent-budget planning process.
