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Finance director outlines 2026 budget kickoff: 0% baseline for non-salary items, shared health-benefit cost proposal
Summary
The committee was presented a 2026 budget schedule and a parameters memo directing departments to prepare FY2026 budgets at a 0% increase baseline (excluding salary/benefits, utilities, and contract increases); the director proposed equally sharing health-benefit costs across departments and using prefilled 'sacred codes' to reduce variances.
The finance director presented the 2026 budget timeline and a parameters memo asking departments to prepare budgets on a 0% increase baseline for discretionary items while excluding salaries, fringe benefits, utilities and contract increases. The director explained departments will be given salary and fringe amounts and asked to find offsets within discretionary budget lines for other increases.
The director proposed a standard approach to shared health-benefit costs: rather than counting heads department-by-department, a single number from HR would be divided equally across departments. The committee discussed home-committee prioritization for Ho-Chunk requests, an August submission deadline for department worksheets and the use of prefilled "sacred codes" to limit discretionary variance. Members asked for an earlier forecast and clearer worksheets to guide department submissions.
