Crewe proposes FY26 budget with 3% COLA, tiered holiday bonuses and new water/sewer director; no property-tax increase

The Crewe Town Manager presented the proposed FY26 budget, highlighting a 3% cost-of-living allowance for staff, replacement of the former retention bonus with a tiered holiday bonus structure based on tenure, and a proposed water/sewer director position budgeted across both funds.

"We're taking the holiday bonuses and adding the retention bonuses and having a tiered structure for holiday bonuses based on tenure," the Town Manager said, describing the new $1,000 starting tier and $250 increases every five years. The budget also assumes a 9% health-insurance increase and includes funding to recruit a licensed operator who holds Class II licenses in both water and sewer; the manager said the line-item budgeted roughly $34,000 per fund for that position.

On utility fees, the manager said the budget assumes no general-property-tax increase but proposes utility adjustments to move water and sewer funds toward self-sustainability without relying on transfers. The plan discussed in the meeting included an immediate $4 increase to the water base and a $1.50 increase to the overage this fiscal year, alongside a multi-year path averaging roughly 21% per year across five years to reach target coverage. For sewer the manager described a $3 base increase and $0.75 added to overage as initial steps in a multi-year plan ultimately intended to achieve roughly 73% increase from current levels to reach self-sustainability if transfers are eliminated.

A council member urged caution about cumulative small expenditures and grant-match obligations, saying "we're nickel and diming ourselves to death" and urging careful prioritization. The Town Manager replied that many grant opportunities have no match or use ARPA funds for matches that were already approved. Council scheduled a public hearing on the budget for Wednesday, June 25 at 6 p.m. and moved to advertise the hearing; the motion carried.

The manager also noted operational items included in the budget such as investment of approximately $1.5 million of fund balance into conservative, liquid options and an ongoing evaluation of vendor contracts and benefit designs to control costs.

Next steps: advertise and hold the public hearing (June 25) and schedule a council vote on the budget shortly after (target July 1). Staff will return with final rate-adoption language and supporting calculations.