City Council Budget Review Meeting - August 19, 2026
City Council Budget Review Meeting - August 19, 2026
The City Council convened on August 19, 2026, at 9:15 AM to review budgets for the Department of Public Works (DPW), Motor Vehicle Highway (MVH), Animal Care Services, Planning, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Discussions focused on rising costs, capital needs, and facility consolidation.
Department of Public Works (DPW) General Fund Budget
The DPW budget has increased by $128,000 since 2024, driven largely by headcount, insurance costs, and fuel. Fuel costs remain high, with winter operations (leaf vac trucks running two engines per truck) expected to be a significant expense. Landfill fees have increased multiple times, but the budget only includes an additional $10,000 over the previous year, which may require a supplemental appropriation. A council member expressed frustration with the frequency of landfill fee increases, noting that the city bears the burden from the solid waste district.
Motor Vehicle Highway (MVH) Budget and Capital Projects
The MVH budget includes increases for diesel fuel, motor oil (covering lubricants, antifreeze, grease), and miscellaneous supplies (traffic paint, signs, poles) due to petroleum-based cost increases. Street improvements (alley overlays) and traffic signal maintenance (older signals requiring more repairs) also saw increases. For capital, the city is moving a garbage truck from the general fund to MVH and reducing the number of new trucks from five to three for savings. A council member noted that the new DPW garage at the Arcadia site is already too small, prompting discussion about purchasing adjacent land or consolidating maintenance facilities. Concerns were raised about environmental issues at the current Chrysler property and the potential for a brownfield grant. The council agreed to move the budgets forward without exception, but with a directive for the administration to explore land acquisition and facility consolidation.
Animal Care Services Budget
Animal Care Services reported that its capital campaign for a new building has already reached a $1 million match goal, with a total $5 million budgeted. The current budget reflects the move to the new building, including part-time staffing increases. A significant increase in miscellaneous professional services is intended as a buffer for veterinary costs, which are typically covered by the adoption medical fund. That fund is under pressure: the Catalina fundraiser raised $240,000 in 2025, but $90,000 went to the capital campaign, leaving the adoption medical fund with a balance of around $15,000 against annual expenses of about $200,000. The department relies heavily on fundraising events (Bingo runs, moonlight loop, 50-50 raffles) to sustain operations. A council member questioned the revenue from adoption fees and fines, noting that it is not currently tracked separately. There were no exceptions to the Animal Care budget.
Planning and MPO Budgets
The Planning Department budget saw minimal change, with the addition of an intern position funded within existing part-time budget. A new fund (2260) was created for permits and fees as mandated by the state, with insurance benefits moved into it. The consulting services line decreased due to last year's complement plan. The MPO budget decreased by $16,000 due to a lower federal allocation, with reductions in consulting services. Council members had no exceptions to these budgets.
Key Outcomes
- The DPW and MVH budgets were approved with no exceptions, but the council requested that the administration investigate purchasing land adjacent to the Arcadia site and consider consolidating maintenance facilities.
- The Animal Care Services budget was approved without exception.
- The Planning and MPO budgets were approved without exception.
Meeting Transcript
Anything else on the DBW general fund budget? We've got MDH to go over to the biggest biggest the biggest increase in DPWs is you know the head count the ones and that's obviously the insurance and the uh has fuel balanced out at all for you. You know, it's it has a little bit, but uh we're still still kind of see where we diesels out of sight. Winter is the toughest for us because we've got leaf acts coming up. When we fire up LeFAX, we're running two engines per truck. That's right. And you got the truck, so you gotta you know, so that's gonna be a big hit, and it depends on what kind of uh snow we uh run ahead for and snow plows. That's such a great tool. That's such a great tool to have, you know. When you just come down come down the street and suck up everything, yes, you know, site kids, dogs, everything that's happening. You gotta be careful. Did we put enough in landfill fees with uh in increase? We put uh technically only jumped it up by 10 pounds, yeah. 10,000. Um I think it's just something we're gonna watch, and you know, we may have to come back, you know, for special appropriation if we see that we need to uh do more. So did you have tipping fees? Is that what you just said? Sorry. Landfill fees up again. I was gonna ask about that too. They went up again. They did. So did we account for that? We only put in 10,000 over last year's budget. Okay. So that's what I'm asking. If that was enough to cover the increase. Um yeah, they're gonna be close. So um, we may have to come back for that. So it's gone up since 24. Our budget uh so this budget went up 128,000 since 2024. But it's also raised twice in that country. Yes, yes. We've seen a couple increases and I had nothing to do with the distance. I'm not on there, and more in the population continues to grow too. So I probably would have argued, I think this time against it because we went for years with no increase. Now it seems like boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom. But all that we're doing is pushing the burden from the solid waste district. We're pushing it on to the city text there. It's gotta get paid somewhere. But the commissioners don't want it on there. No, they don't. No, they don't. And they control the solid waste district. The mayor and one council member has a seat, but we have the minority seats. That's anything else for uh the general fund so we can move on to MDH. So we can keep moving. Uh we had a few increases. Um the first one diesel fuel, you mentioned diesel fuel. Um VH is where the snow plows and the uh leafs come from, so we see just more usage that because we have double the um we actually have like four pieces of equipment that have dual engines, uh street sweeper, um, the vac truck and leaf's three.
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