City Council Meeting Date: June 4, 2024
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Title
City Administrator's Update.
Body
Summary Report:
Please see the following
* Upcoming Agenda Items List (attachment 1).
* 2025-2026 Proposed Budget Timeline (attachment 2).
Finance Director Angelstad and City Administrator Martig have developed the proposed 2025-2026 budget planning calendar. The schedule is fairly consistent with prior year's timing. The budget kicks off in June/July after the audit is complete, the preliminary levy is set in September and the final levy and budget are set in December.
However, this proposed calendar incorporates a couple of enhancements to the process. A dedicated item has been added to the June Work Session to review the five-year CIP/CEP. By doing this earlier in the process, it allows more focus and better planning for the two year budget process.
Another proposed enhancement is committing to the final levy in September. This would allow for two significant benefits to the process: 1) It would allow more accurate proposed tax statements and education to property owners; and 2) allow for more focus on the second year of the budget planning. It is proposed that the Preliminary Levy set in September also be the Final Levy set in December.
First, the TNT statements distributed by the County in November to property owners show the proposed property tax impact on each individual property. If the preliminary levy set in September is the same as the final levy set in December, the TNT statements will be accurate for the city tax impact. In past years, the preliminary levy has been set higher than the final and therefore the proposed impact residents receive on the TNT statement is also higher and it can be difficult for owners to determine actual impact.
Second, focusing on setting the final levy as the preliminary in September, allows staff and Council to focus on long range planning and speci...
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