Silver Springs adopts $14.4 million FY2026 budget; average utility bills to rise about 9%

The City Council of Silver Springs on Wednesday adopted a $14,435,307 budget for fiscal year 2025–26 and signaled approval of planned utility rate increases that staff said will result in an estimated 9 percent average rise in customers' combined water, sewer and electric bills. The council voted to adopt the budget after a public hearing and later approved Ordinance No. 716, the city’s annual appropriation ordinance, by roll call.

Councilman Merrick moved to adopt the proposed FY2026 budget; the motion passed. The ordinance titled "Annual Appropriation Ordinance for the fiscal year beginning 10/01/2025 and ending 09/30/2026" was read by title and adopted on the council's roll-call vote.

City staff told the council the budget is built from the work the council and departments completed over several months and totals just over $14.4 million. Finance-related briefings during the public hearing highlighted proposed utility rate adjustments: staff presented a proposed 12.4 percent increase to water usage rates, an 11.5 percent increase to sewer usage rates and an across-the-board power usage increase just over 5 percent. Staff estimated meter-rate adjustments would push the overall nominal average household bill up by about 9 percent, with variation by customer class.

The budget adoption follows a public hearing that city staff opened for written and oral comment. Council members thanked staff and department directors for their work on the budget and said they did not take the proposed increases lightly, noting infrastructure needs the raises are intended to address.

Council members said they expect to adopt resolutions implementing the formal utility rate schedule in one or two subsequent meetings prior to the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1. The city clerk read Ordinance No. 716 by title; the ordinance appropriates $14,435,307 for operating expenses and authorizes a tax levy on taxable property for the fiscal year.

The council discussed next steps for notice and implementation; staff said the utility rate resolutions will return to the council for formal adoption and that customer notices will be prepared. No public comment at the hearing requested changes to the spending plan; several commenters were invited to speak but the record shows no formal amendment to the proposed budget at Wednesday’s meeting.

The council’s formal actions: adoption of the FY2026 budget and adoption of Ordinance No. 716. Council members present voted in favor during roll call; the minutes record the motions and the clerk’s reading of ordinance language.

What happens next: staff will publish and implement the adopted budget and prepare the resolutions that formally set the new utility rates for council action in the next one or two meetings; after those resolutions are adopted staff said they will notify customers of rate changes and update billing systems.