City staff warns of multi-year budget gap as operating costs outpace revenues

Presenter summarized the fiscal outlook for the upcoming year, saying the city faces a multi-year structural strain driven by revenue limits and rising costs. “Since 2021, our operating costs have increased 56%. Our revenues have only increased 29%,” the Presenter said, framing the budget as a call to tough choices.

The presentation said total projected revenues are about $15,000,000 under a 3.5% base property-tax assumption and that the enterprise fund anticipates a little over $9.7 million. Staff warned of a potential drawdown of reserves — the preliminary budget shows a planned draw of about $1.2 million — and proposed options including a 2% COLA for staff, deferred hires and targeted reductions to capital spending.

Council members asked for clarifications about specific fund balances and next steps; staff scheduled a budget workshop and public hearing timeline, with a public hearing on the tax roll set for Sept. 10. The council was told it could refine the budget after receiving results from planned RFPs and more detailed vendor pricing for large capital items.