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Record of Proceedings

Altoona Budget Committee Meeting – August 14, 2025

Meeting Portal — Thursday, August 14, 2025
BodyAltoona, Wisconsin
SessionMeeting Portal
DateThursday, August 14, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:29:07

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:03

Hey, how about them brewers?

Speaker 2

0:05

Yes.

Speaker 1

0:06

Unbelievable.

0:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2

0:08

They just don't burn out before they play

Speaker 3

0:10

out.

Speaker 1

0:12

Keep it

Speaker 4

0:12

rolling.

Speaker 1

0:14

Free hamburgers for everyone.

Unassigned speaker

0:18

Ready?

Speaker 3

0:20

All right.

0:20

Let's go ahead and call the budget committee meeting of Thursday, August 14th, 2025 to order.

0:27

We have roll call.

Speaker 5

0:31

Mayor Brendan Pratt.

Speaker 3

0:33

Here.

Speaker 5

0:33

Councilperson Timothy Lima.

Speaker 6

0:35

Present.

Speaker 5

0:36

Councilperson Bruce Thielen.

Speaker 6

0:38

Yep.

Speaker 5

0:38

Councilperson Matthew Beeran.

0:40

Here.

0:40

Councilperson Zo Susie Zilmer.

Speaker 7

0:43

Here.

Speaker 5

0:43

Councilperson Susan Rowe.

Speaker 7

0:46

Here.

Speaker 5

0:46

We also have present uh Mark Willer, Finance Committee member via Zoom.

0:50

We have Mike Golott, City Administrator, Tina Nelson, Finance Director, Christian Hubert, City Engineer, Assistant Director of Public Works, Mark Renderman, Fire Chief, Taylor Greenwell, Planning Director, Julian Emerson, Grant and Housing Program Manager, Chad Durk up, Parks and Recreation Director, and Cindy Bauer, City Clerk.

1:13

The absent at this time is Dale's Councilmember Dale Stuber.

1:16

You have a quorum.

Speaker 3

1:18

All right.

Speaker 7

1:22

Good evening, everyone.

1:24

Thanks so much for being here.

1:26

Some for some of you this will be just a review.

1:30

Sorry if it's getting boring, and some of them may be overwhelming because you're new.

1:35

Just know if you're new and you have any questions outside of the meeting, please get in touch with me.

1:39

I'd be glad to go over anything in detail.

1:42

Um or any of the council members if if you want more detail.

1:46

So tonight we're just gonna do a budget process overview.

1:50

Um we're gonna talk about our strategic planning um goals and how that goes into our budget planning.

1:57

We're gonna talk about the equalized versus the assessed values and give you what our new equalized value is.

2:04

Um and then I'll review our overall financial position as a city, talk about how where we are with our fund balances, and then um at the end we'll go over our preliminary 2026 uh proposed capital projects.

2:18

You have a list of those in front of you, and the department heads are here.

2:22

There's some of them we could go into more detail, some of them are just uh common that replacements.

2:28

Within the next couple weeks, what we'll do is we'll get a nice uh digital and PDF budget book of the capital projects to

Unassigned speaker

2:36

you

Speaker 7

2:37

in more detail also.

2:38

So once you get that, if you have questions, please reach

Unassigned speaker

2:41

out.

Speaker 7

2:43

So talking about the different funds that we have as a city.

2:48

Um being a city, uh we have several funds, and why we have different funds is we keep track of the the different activities.

2:55

We have what's tax levy funds, and we have four funds that make up that tax levy.

3:01

So they are the general fund, which is our operational fund, the library fund, which is managed by the library board, the capital projects is all of our capital projects that are related to general fund expenses, not the utilities, but the capital projects within the the general fund.

3:20

And then we have a debt service fund.

3:22

All of most of our capital projects go through a debt service, and um they get paid for through debt service, and that's its own fund.

3:30

When you add up the levies for them, that's how we get the tax that we levy, the total tax roll.

3:36

Um we also have what are called enterprise funds.

3:40

Um they are our utilities, and they are accounted for differently.

3:43

They're like their own business.

3:45

We have our water utility, which is also regulated by the public service commission, so we have to answer to the public service commission for anything that um relates to the water utility.

3:56

We have our sewer utility, and then we have a stormwater utility.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Works███████████████████████23%
Budget Equity Analysis████████████████████20%
Fiscal Sustainability████████████████16%
Public Engagement██████████10%
Parks and Recreation██████████10%
Strategic Planning█████5%
Water And Wastewater Management█████5%
Real Estate Development████4%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Altoona Budget Committee Meeting – August 14, 2025

The Budget Committee met on Thursday, August 14, 2025, at 3:30 PM in the Council Chambers at Altoona City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Brendan Pratt. The committee received an overview of the 2026 budget process, including updates on the city's financial position, equalized and assessed values, and a preliminary list of proposed capital projects totaling $4.6 million. No formal votes were taken; the meeting served as a discussion and planning session. Future meetings will address debt service, the TID closure, and utility budgets.

Discussion Items

  • Budget Process Overview: Tina Nelson, Finance Director, outlined the city's fund structure (general fund, library fund, capital projects fund, debt service fund, enterprise funds for water/sewer/stormwater, TIF districts, and special revenue funds like affordable housing). She noted that TID #3 closed this year, moving increment into the general fund.
  • Equalized vs. Assessed Values: Nelson explained that equalized value is based on market analysis; the city's equalized value increased 6% to $1.39 billion, with 61% of growth from market appreciation. The city conducts market updates every other year to keep assessed values close to equalized values.
  • Financial Position: The city has a tax stabilization fund balance of $2.2 million, land sale fund balances totaling $9.8 million (including unassigned, land acquisition, and redevelopment funds). City Administrator Mike Golott noted that without land sales, reserves would be only $812,000, emphasizing the need to maintain financial sustainability.
  • Proposed 2026 Capital Projects: A list of projects totaling $4.6 million was presented. Key projects include:
    • Public Works campus improvements (building completion, material storage)
    • Firearm optics and patrol speed laser for police ($20,000)
    • Land acquisition for a new fire station (to be paid from fund balance)
    • Computer replacements and network switches ($48,000)
    • City code recodification
    • Vernon Street, Elsa Street, Globe Avenue, and Hamilton Avenue reconstruction (lead service replacement initiative)
    • Radio system upgrade for fire department to improve coverage (additional $40,000 borrowing)
    • Perseverance Park playground equipment and irrigation
    • Container Park improvements (enclosing pavilion for winter use)
    • Fairway pickleball/basketball court fence replacement and playground equipment
    • Mobile backup generator for sanitary sewer lift stations
    • Snow and ice control equipment improvements (proposed by Councilmember Bruce Thielen)
  • Utility Budgets: Sewer utility contract with Eau Claire is under negotiation; water utility capacity will be discussed in future meetings.
  • Affordable Housing Fund: $6.4 million was added from TID #3 closure; strategies for use are being developed.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes or decisions were made on the capital projects or budget. The committee will receive a detailed digital budget book for review.
  • The next budget committee meeting (in two weeks) will focus on 2026 capital projects and debt service, with Sean Lenz present to discuss TID closure implications and tax relief options.
  • A strategic planning session is scheduled for fall/winter 2025 to revisit city priorities.
  • The committee will continue budget discussions through November, with the public hearing and final adoption expected on November 20, 2025.

Meeting Transcript

Hey, how about them brewers? Yes. Unbelievable. Yeah. They just don't burn out before they play out. Keep it rolling. Free hamburgers for everyone. Ready? All right. Let's go ahead and call the budget committee meeting of Thursday, August 14th, 2025 to order. We have roll call. Mayor Brendan Pratt. Here. Councilperson Timothy Lima. Present. Councilperson Bruce Thielen. Yep. Councilperson Matthew Beeran. Here. Councilperson Zo Susie Zilmer. Here. Councilperson Susan Rowe. Here. We also have present uh Mark Willer, Finance Committee member via Zoom. We have Mike Golott, City Administrator, Tina Nelson, Finance Director, Christian Hubert, City Engineer, Assistant Director of Public Works, Mark Renderman, Fire Chief, Taylor Greenwell, Planning Director, Julian Emerson, Grant and Housing Program Manager, Chad Durk up, Parks and Recreation Director, and Cindy Bauer, City Clerk. The absent at this time is Dale's Councilmember Dale Stuber. You have a quorum. All right. Good evening, everyone. Thanks so much for being here. Some for some of you this will be just a review. Sorry if it's getting boring, and some of them may be overwhelming because you're new. Just know if you're new and you have any questions outside of the meeting, please get in touch with me. I'd be glad to go over anything in detail. Um or any of the council members if if you want more detail. So tonight we're just gonna do a budget process overview. Um we're gonna talk about our strategic planning um goals and how that goes into our budget planning. We're gonna talk about the equalized versus the assessed values and give you what our new equalized value is. Um and then I'll review our overall financial position as a city, talk about how where we are with our fund balances, and then um at the end we'll go over our preliminary 2026 uh proposed capital projects. You have a list of those in front of you, and the department heads are here. There's some of them we could go into more detail, some of them are just uh common that replacements. Within the next couple weeks, what we'll do is we'll get a nice uh digital and PDF budget book of the capital projects to you in more detail also. So once you get that, if you have questions, please reach out. So talking about the different funds that we have as a city. Um being a city, uh we have several funds, and why we have different funds is we keep track of the the different activities.

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