0-Council Memo (8-4-2025)
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: Adam Flaherty, City Administrator/Finance Director
DATE: August 4, 2025
SUBJECT: Budget Meeting #1
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
On Monday, the City Council and staff will review the draft 2026 General Fund budget, which was distributed on August
1st. The draft budget is developed using a combination of historical data and future projections based on anticipated
operations for 2026. Each department was responsible for submitting their respective budget requests. The City
Administrator / Finance Director held meetings with each respective department staff to thoroughly review the
requested budget prior to being included in the draft budget document.
Please note that staff are seeking City Council input during this budget review meeting to move the budgeting process
forward effectively and efficiently. I have developed an outline of discussion topics below.
Budget Review
The Council and staff will be reviewing General Fund department budgets as outlined in the attached review schedule.
Fund Summary
The draft budget is being presented as a balanced budget, with both revenues and expenditure totaling $11,087,481,
which is a 11.54% increase from the prior year.
Revenues
The primary source of revenue within the General fund is property tax dollars which account for 71% of budgeted
revenues. An increase of $856,000 (12.23%) in property tax levy is being presented within the draft budget. This increase
is slightly outpacing the increase in expenditure due to decreasing revenue sources within Cable Franchise Fees (6.84%)
and Intergovernmental (17.19%). The change in Intergovernmental is driven by a reduced allocation of Public Safety Aid
compared to the previous year. This Public Safety Aid will be fully allocated within the 2027 budget.
The details of these revenues will be reviewed by staff and Council during the budget review meeting.
Expenditures
Total expenditures within the draft budget increased $1,147,379 (11.54%) from the prior year budget. In summary the
expenditure functions increased as follows:
- General Government: $357,405 (16.27%)
- Public Safety: $651,509 (15.28%)
- Public Works: $96,738 (4.57%)
- Culture and Recreation: $51,477 (4.12%)
- Economic Development: Decrease of $9,750 (8.79%)
The details of these expenditures will be reviewed by staff and Council during the budget review meeting.
Fund Balance Policy
The unassigned fund balance from year-end 2024 is $4,642,283, or 46.70% of the adopted general fund budget for 2025.
During 2023, the City received Public Safety Aid allocations from the State. Accounting standards require this amount to
be shown as restricted fund balance, therefore factoring it out of the unassigned balance above. Given that the City
Council has determined to offset law enforcement contract costs within the General fund, for illustrative purposes, if
this balance is included, the fund balance from year-end 2024 would be $4,822,416, or 48.51% of the adopted general
fund budget for 2025.
The City’s fund balance policy outlines that the ending fund balance in the General Fund should be 45% of the
subsequent year’s budget. The policy further outlines that any balance more than the defined 45% minimum can be
transferred to a capital reserve fund at the Council’s discretion.
The City Council will be asked to provide direction on whether to provide for a transfer of funds in accordance with the
fund balance policy at this meeting.
Next Steps
A special meeting has been scheduled for August 11, 2025, at 5:30PM to review budgets for the City’s Special Revenue
and Debt Service Funds.
Additional special meeting(s) should be considered for scheduling to review:
- Capital Project Funds with Property Tax Levies
- Draft Preliminary Property Tax Levy
- Additional and/or Revised General Fund Budgets
The Council will need to adopt the preliminary property tax levy, which is the maximum amount the City can levy for
taxes payable 2026 prior to September 30, 2025. The timing of this action will be a topic of discussion at this budget
review meeting and any future special meetings for budget review. It should be noted that the preliminary property tax
levy is the amount used for truth-in-taxation notices that are sent to the taxpayers by Wright County.
The final budget and property tax levy will not be adopted by the City Council until December. Changes to the budget
can still be made between now and then but increases in expenditures become difficult because the primary revenue
source to pay for those increases is property taxes. The property tax levy can be decreased between now and then, but
the levy cannot be increased.
Materials Attached for Discussion
1) Draft General Fund Budget
2) Department Review Checklist
3) Fund Balance Policy Calculation