Budget Committee Meeting – Altoona, Wisconsin – October 9, 2025

The Budget Committee met on Thursday, October 9, 2025, to review the proposed 2026 Library budget and the first draft of the 2026 General Fund operating budget. City staff presented revenue and expenditure details, estimated tax impacts, and the remaining budget adoption schedule. The agenda scheduled the meeting for 3:00 p.m.; no formal budget votes were taken.

Call to Order and Roll Call

• Mayor Brendan Pratt and council members Dale Stuber, Bruce Thielen, Matthew Beeron, Susie Zilmer, and Susan Roll were present; Timothy Lima was absent. A quorum was established.
• Staff in attendance included Finance Director Tina Nelson, City Administrator Mike Golott, Police Chief Kelly Botkin, Fire Chief Mark Renderman, Library Director Olivia Morris, and other department heads.

Library Budget Presentation

• Olivia Morris reviewed library performance through September 30, 2025. Total circulation is on pace to exceed both 2024 and 2023; program attendance is doing exceptionally well; new patron counts are also expected to exceed prior years.
• Highlights included 81 attendees for Chad Lewis's "Bizarre Wisconsin" presentation, 20 adults for ukulele lessons, a September library-card registration promotion with local businesses, 973 children and teens in the summer reading program (the highest total ever), and 672 adults submitting book reviews in the revamped adult summer reading program.
• County aid has increased dramatically since 2021 because it is based on circulation totals; this year it was just over $500,000. In response to a council question, Olivia clarified the figure is the collective total of adjacent county and interlibrary aid. She said she would provide a breakdown of relative growth by category at a later date.
• The library request from the city is $387,000 for 2026, holding steady from 2025 and matching 2023, after a one-year increase to $393,000 in 2024. The request funds a 3.5% cost-of-living increase for part-time staff, a fourth full-time librarian, and step raises for existing full-time librarians. The library also plans to use a grant discussed by the council.
• Olivia noted that Altoona's library circulation and program attendance are dramatically above Rice Lake Public Library, a comparable community, reflecting strong community usage.

General Fund Budget – First Draft

• Tina Nelson recapped the budget calendar: the next meeting is scheduled for November 6 at 4:30 p.m. for the final general fund budget, TID No. 4, affordable housing fund budgets, and the required public notice; November 20 at 4:30 p.m. will feature the final budget presentation, sample tax bill, public hearing, and possible budget adoption.
• Notable proposed changes to the 2026 general fund operating budget:
  • 2.7% CPI-based wage-table increase plus employee step increases; the same 2.7% increase was applied to part-time fire employees, a recommendation from the fire operations study.
  • One new full-time parks maintenance position, and seasonal parks wages increased from $14 to $16 per hour (total $11,000), with an annual step system; comparable Eau Claire rates are around $17–$18 per hour.
  • Fire on-call pay would rise from $1.50 to $3.50 per hour, at an estimated cost of about $100,000, as a first step to improve shift coverage.
  • The Community Service Officer (CSO) budget would be increased substantially to roughly double CSO hours. Police Chief Kelly Botkin described CSOs as primarily code-enforcement staff who also help with traffic and events at lower cost than sworn-officer overtime, and as a recruiting pipeline for future officers.
  • TID No. 3 closure adds $607,155 to the general fund, but also shifts administrative wage allocations to the general fund and utilities. Net new construction was only 1.87%, limiting the allowable levy increase without TID closure to $52,240.92.
  • Health insurance premiums were flat, which Tina described as unheard of. No transfer from reserves is proposed for 2026, after $400,000 was budgeted from reserves in 2025, $359,000 in 2024, and $182,000 in 2023.
  • A council member asked about the disposition of $1.1 million in one-time TID 3 proceeds; Tina explained the amount will be unassigned after the audit is completed and can be allocated as the council chooses.
• Revenue changes in the 2026 draft include a 14.79% increase in the tax line due to the TID closure (not a 14.79% tax increase), lower expected building permit revenue, and higher charges for services and miscellaneous/interest revenue.
• Expenditure changes include: general government down 1.88%; police, building, and animal control up 9.12%; EMS and fire up 13.47%; public works and building inspection down 6.52%; parks and recreation up 7.16%; tourism down 1.9%; forestry down; planning and development up 2.45%. Overall expenses are up 5.8%.
• The proposed total levy for the general fund, debt service, and library is $6.7 million. Tina estimated an equalized mill rate of 5.01 and an assessed mill rate of 5.31, pending the state's final assessment statement with manufacturing values. A property valued at $150,000 would see an estimated $25 decrease in its city tax bill; higher-valued properties would see larger decreases.
• A council member expressed concern about the reduced forestry operating budget because boulevards and parks still need trees; Tina clarified tree planting is in the capital budget, not the operating line item.
• Tina described the budget as very, very tight after $500,000 was cut in the last week, but said employees had worked together well. Council members generally expressed comfort with the draft.

Miscellaneous Business: Council Raises

• The committee discussed council compensation, noting it has not increased in more than ten years. Comparisons to Eau Claire, where council members earn over $8,000, were cited; Altoona council members receive $200 per month. The discussion noted that low pay makes recruitment difficult and indicated the issue should be addressed.

Key Outcomes

• No formal action was taken on the 2026 budget; the meeting was informational.
• Tina Nelson agreed to look into providing council members with links to view detailed draft budget data in the ClearGov system during development.
• The next budget meeting is scheduled for November 6, 2025, at 4:30 p.m., with the final budget presentation and public hearing on November 20, 2025.
• The meeting adjourned by unanimous voice vote.