New Richmond adopts balanced $10.18 million 2026 budget, approves $8.21 million levy and 5-year CIP

The New Richmond City Council on a unanimous roll call vote adopted a balanced $10,179,825 operating budget for 2026, approved a corresponding city levy of $8,214,586 and adopted the 2026 portion of a five-year capital improvement plan covering 2026–2030.

City finance staff told the council the proposed budget represents a $574,932 (6 percent) increase in total revenues and expenditures compared with the prior year and results in a city portion of the tax bill that would increase by about $17 per year for a median home value of $350,000. "We are not anticipating any use of unrestricted fund balance to fill any gaps or holes," city finance staff said during the presentation.

Staff identified several drivers behind the change: a first lease payment of $630,000 due in 2026 for the new library space leased from the New Richmond Community Development Authority; a proposed 4.1 percent cost-of-living adjustment based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics index; a 1 percent increase in health insurance premiums; the addition of a 0.675 full-time-equivalent custodial position to support the new library; and the loss of an expenditure-restraint payment from the state equal to roughly $55,000. The council also heard that the capital improvement plan represents roughly $12.2 million in projects through 2030, with about $8.5 million planned for combined borrowing in 2026 for city and utility projects, including construction of Water Tower No. 3 and replacement of a 2006 rescue fire truck.

Finance staff said the proposal would fund about 69 percent of the 2026 CIP with debt, 26 percent from impact fees or reserves and 5 percent from grants. The staff presentation included a breakdown of levy components: general operations, debt service (covering roughly 56 percent of total debt service payments), a flat capital replacement levy of $150,000, and a tax increment district levy.

A council member moved to adopt the budget and levy and to adopt the 2026 capital improvement plan; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll-call vote with all voting members recorded in favor. The council closed the public hearing before taking the vote.

The next step for specific CIP projects and any financing authorization will be separate council actions when staff returns with project-level financing requests and bid results.