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Record of Proceedings

City of Altoona Budget Committee Meeting - October 22, 2026

Meeting Portal — Thursday, October 22, 2026
BodyAltoona, Wisconsin
SessionMeeting Portal
DateThursday, October 22, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 46:00

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

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

Yeah, when we're watching the home

Unassigned speaker

0:01

games, it was just fun watching.

Unassigned speaker

0:11

Just getting more over the end again now.

Speaker 2

0:17

Hey.

0:20

I'm giving you a heart.

Unassigned speaker

0:22

You know I'm in the first time.

Unassigned speaker

0:24

I'm trying to get my husband to take a look at the survey.

Unassigned speaker

0:27

Your park should be able to do that.

Speaker 3

0:28

Get on the string.

Unassigned speaker

0:28

And he's just not doing it.

Speaker 4

0:32

It is why that we're on.

Unassigned speaker

0:34

So you can get on all the time.

Speaker 4

0:37

I can't.

0:38

I don't have the right words to get him to do it.

Unassigned speaker

0:40

You

Speaker 5

0:40

ready?

0:42

All right, let's go ahead and call the budget committee meeting Thursday.

0:46

October 22nd, 2026 to order.

0:49

I have a roll call.

Speaker 3

0:52

Mayor Brendan Platt.

0:54

Councilperson Dale Stuber.

0:57

Bruce Thielen.

0:59

Here.

0:59

Matthew Buren.

1:00

Here.

1:00

Susie Zilmer.

1:02

Via phone.

1:03

We have Susan Roll.

1:05

We also have Finance Committee member Mark Willer.

1:08

City Administrator Mike Golott.

1:14

Tina Nelson, Finance Director, Scott Quick, Director of Public Works.

1:18

Mark Renderman.

1:21

Mark Renderman, Fire Chief.

1:24

Julian Emerson, Grant and Housing Program Manager.

1:27

We have Stella Pagonis representing the library committee member.

1:30

We have Chad Durka, Parks and Rec Director.

1:34

Cindy Bauer, City Clerk, and we have absent at this time Timothy Lima.

1:39

He is running late today.

1:40

So otherwise we have a quorum.

Speaker 5

1:42

All right.

1:43

All right.

1:43

Overview of the 2027 proposed budgets.

Speaker 6

1:51

So yeah, today agenda is we're gonna let the library present their budget first, here in place of Olivia.

2:01

And then I'm going to go through the 2027 budget process and meeting schedule.

2:06

Um just a little review of what we've did up to this point and where we at and what we have to do yet to complete the budgets.

2:14

Um then talk about general fund revenue and expense changes and the proposed levy meal rates and assessment and how what that looks like.

2:25

And then at the end, we're gonna want some committee guidance and for the next steps to go on.

2:30

Um want to know if what what we're proposing is okay with you at this time.

2:36

So first I will just turn it over

Speaker 4

2:39

to Stella.

2:40

Okay, thank you.

2:41

Am I okay here?

Speaker 5

2:42

Yeah.

Speaker 4

2:43

Okay.

2:43

Um so first up to look at revenue.

2:46

Um revenue levy from the city is at 380,000, which is a reduction of about 7,000.

2:56

But it's important to note that expenditures for 2027 will exceed 2026.

3:06

So just because the levy is going down, it's not because we think we're gonna be uh doing less.

3:11

The county library aid is at 575,000 up by 36,000 for um the year between we're a year behind on these, but what we're going into um 2027, it's up by 36,000.

3:31

And additionally, the Act 150 revenue is um up by 10,000.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis████████████████████████████████████36%
Library Services███████████████████████23%
Property Assessment█████████████████17%
Procedural███████████11%
Fiscal Sustainability█████████9%
Public Works███3%
Affordable Housing█1%
Summary of Proceedings

City of Altoona Budget Committee Meeting - October 22, 2026

The Budget Committee of the City of Altoona, Wisconsin, met on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 3:30 PM. The meeting focused on reviewing the proposed 2027 budgets for the Library and the General Fund. Finance Director Tina Nelson and Library Committee member Stella Pagonis led the presentations, with the goal of maintaining a 5.0 equalized mill rate.

Library Budget

  • Stella Pagonis presented the 2027 library budget, noting a proposed $7,000 decrease in the city levy contribution to $380,000, offset by increases in county library aid and Act 150 revenue.
  • Library usage is surging, with over 1,000 children registered in the summer reading program, book club attendance rising from 8 to 35, and 300 children attending a petting zoo event.
  • Key challenges include significant space constraints, such as a lack of quiet reading space and limited community room availability.
  • A discussion was held regarding the library closing on certain city holidays (e.g., Columbus Day). Staff explained these days have low patron usage and provide valuable time for staff to complete projects like weeding and restocking books.

General Fund Budget and Levy

  • Tina Nelson presented the 2027 General Fund budget of $9.19 million, a 2.64% increase from 2026.
  • Net new construction dropped sharply to 1.57%, the lowest since 2000, constraining the levy limit.
  • Revenue losses include the Expenditure Restraint Program ($46,000), highway aids, and cable franchise fees. Susie Zilmer questioned the decline in cable fees; Tina Nelson attributed it to cord-cutting and decreased Charter revenue not fully offset by TDS revenue.
  • Expense increases are concentrated in Public Safety (up $147,000) and General Government (up $110,000, partly due to reclassifying staff time). Staffing adjustments repurposed a vacant EMS coordinator position to fund paid-on-call fire shifts and a full-time administrative assistant.
  • The total proposed local levy is $7,044,328, supporting a $5.00 equalized mill rate.
  • Property assessments increased residential values by 11.26% and commercial by 8.36%. A typical $250,000 home will see a local levy increase of $45.76.
  • Councilmember Timothy Lima voiced concerns about spending and valuation sustainability. Staff responded that the expenditure increase is modest (2.6%) and the city maintains reserves.

Key Outcomes

  • Guidance: The committee concurred to proceed with the proposed budget framework and 5.0 mill rate. No specific adjustments were ordered.
  • Schedule: The next meeting is November 5, 2026. Final adoption and public hearing are scheduled for December 3, 2026.
  • Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Yeah, when we're watching the home games, it was just fun watching. Just getting more over the end again now. Hey. I'm giving you a heart. You know I'm in the first time. I'm trying to get my husband to take a look at the survey. Your park should be able to do that. Get on the string. And he's just not doing it. It is why that we're on. So you can get on all the time. I can't. I don't have the right words to get him to do it. You ready? All right, let's go ahead and call the budget committee meeting Thursday. October 22nd, 2026 to order. I have a roll call. Mayor Brendan Platt. Councilperson Dale Stuber. Bruce Thielen. Here. Matthew Buren. Here. Susie Zilmer. Via phone. We have Susan Roll. We also have Finance Committee member Mark Willer. City Administrator Mike Golott. Tina Nelson, Finance Director, Scott Quick, Director of Public Works. Mark Renderman. Mark Renderman, Fire Chief. Julian Emerson, Grant and Housing Program Manager. We have Stella Pagonis representing the library committee member. We have Chad Durka, Parks and Rec Director. Cindy Bauer, City Clerk, and we have absent at this time Timothy Lima. He is running late today. So otherwise we have a quorum. All right. All right. Overview of the 2027 proposed budgets. So yeah, today agenda is we're gonna let the library present their budget first, here in place of Olivia. And then I'm going to go through the 2027 budget process and meeting schedule. Um just a little review of what we've did up to this point and where we at and what we have to do yet to complete the budgets. Um then talk about general fund revenue and expense changes and the proposed levy meal rates and assessment and how what that looks like. And then at the end, we're gonna want some committee guidance and for the next steps to go on. Um want to know if what what we're proposing is okay with you at this time. So first I will just turn it over to Stella.

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