Gunner opens FY25–26 budget hearing as residents press council on fees and spending

The Gunner City Council opened the public hearing on the proposed FY25–26 operating budget and heard detailed questions from residents and staff responses about accounting changes and programed expenditures. Mayor (presiding) emphasized the hearing's scope: "This is about the budget; stick to budget," and then invited signed speakers. Resident Heidi Merchant urged the council to "take a 2nd look at balancing the budget that we already have with existing funds instead of taxing the citizens further," citing numerous line-item changes such as development fees being cut from $15,000 to $0 and a jump in firefighting bunker-gear costs from $10,000 to $97,650.

Staff explained that some apparent drops to zero reflect GL-code reclassifications and pass-through accounts for inspection fees, and said development-related inspection revenue is largely a pass-through that will be shown as both revenue and expense. The mayor also described creating a new Emergency Management GL code and seeding it with $100,000 to ensure the city can respond to storm-related cleanup and other urgent needs; she noted an anticipated $60k in pass-through grant funds for license-plate-reading equipment. Councilmembers debated trade-offs among streets, fire and reserve levels; one member urged a cross-the-board review to reduce the proposed tax impact before the council sets the tax rate next week.

The council solicited specific reductions for members to consider before formalizing a tax rate next week; the transcript records detailed follow-up requests for line-item backup and for staff to distribute variance and capital-outlay detail sheets to councilmembers.