Administrator Rindy asks committee to recommend $136,000 reallocation to debt service

Administrator Rindy told the Finance and Taxation Committee the city’s 2026 budget needs an internal reallocation after an audit finding.

“This is administrator Rindy,” Rindy said, explaining that $136,000 was mistakenly allocated to the Capital Fund during the audit for the Expenditure Restraint Program and “it should be allocated to the Debt Service Fund.” Rindy said the Department of Revenue granted an extension and that the change would not increase or decrease the overall 2026 budget, only shift where the $136,000 is recorded.

The change traces to the city’s debt schedule: Rindy said that after paying some non-GAO debt and postponing a bond issuance earlier in 2026, staff had reallocated funds to smooth the debt-service schedule so property tax bills would not see a temporary drop followed by a spike. The Department of Revenue’s audit flagged one line-item that staff now propose to move back to debt service so accounting aligns with program requirements.

A committee member moved that the committee recommend the amendment to the Common Council. After a second, the committee took a roll-call vote: Alder Truhart, Alder Toman and Alder Maguire were recorded as voting aye, and the chair declared the recommendation would go forward to the council for final consideration.

The committee’s action is a recommendation to the Common Council; final approval would take place at the council meeting. The committee recorded that this reallocation is intended to correct the fund classification and not to alter the total 2026 spending levels.