Ferndale City Council Budget Workshop for FY27-FY29 – April 7, 2026
Ferndale City Council Budget Workshop for FY27-FY29 – April 7, 2026
The City Council held a budget workshop on April 7, 2026, to review the proposed triennial budget for fiscal years 2027, 2028, and 2029. The meeting began at 9:00 AM and adjourned at 1:23 PM. City Manager Colleen presented an overview of strategic priorities, department budgets, and financial outlooks, followed by detailed presentations from department heads. No votes were taken; the session was focused on discussion and feedback. Public comment was brief, with one resident expressing appreciation for the transparency of the process.
Presentation: FY27-FY29 Triennial Budget Overview
- The city manager reviewed the budget-setting timeline: first reading on April 13, 2026, adoption of the appropriations act on April 27, 2026, and the final budget book available on May 11, 2026.
- Strategic priorities identified from a prior planning workshop included: reopening the Coolic Center (community center), police and fire facilities improvements, housing development strategies, and other priorities such as parking, debt management, and community engagement.
- For the Coolic Center, a draft condition assessment estimated reopening costs between $6 million and $7.6 million, driven by inoperable major systems due to flooding and vacancy. No cost impact was yet assessed for FY27 as negotiations are ongoing.
- For police and fire facilities, the city plans to update site programming and cost analysis for a potential public safety headquarters, examining multiple locations and improvement levels. $45,000 was allocated in FY27 for programming and public engagement costs.
- Housing strategies included a legal review of establishing a housing trust fund, a potential annual contribution (not yet allocated), and a comprehensive housing plan estimated at $45,000. A staff or contracted resident resource agent was discussed, with estimated costs of $23,000 (part-time) to $69,000 (full-time) annually, but not yet included in FY27 budget.
- Other priorities included a citizen GIS portal ($28,000 initial build, $2,000 annually), arts and beautification ($1,500 for materials), and a centennial celebration task force ($8,500 plus staff time).
General Fund Department Presentations
- General Government: Staff levels remain constant. The headlee override millage took effect, with tax base trending positive. The zero waste manager position was eliminated but partially met through a fellowship. The clerk’s office reduced reliance on outside storage.
- Communications: A full-time staff of two (manager and specialist) serves the city. The website had 178,000 visits and 1.6 million events in 2025. A phone tree update, text system pilot, and community partnership page are in development. Costs are decreasing due to reallocation.
- Information Technology: Resolved over 1,700 tickets with 96.6% satisfaction. Network updates saved $317,000 over seven years; ATT account consolidation saved $40,000. Upcoming capital costs include server replacement, backup storage, and access control upgrades. An RFP for IT services will evaluate outsourcing vs. partial in-house.
- 23rd District Court: Sobriety court and a garnishment project generated over $110,000 in 2025. Staff levels constant, with unfilled positions saving $180,000–$200,000 annually. Succession planning is a concern due to five employees with over 30 years of service.
- Police Department: 53 full-time staff, 42 sworn officers (three vacancies, three conditional offers). Responded to over 25,000 calls in 2025. Reaccreditation scheduled for 2026. Capital requests include two patrol vehicles ($36,000 annually over four years) and a mandated PSAP upgrade ($98,277 in year one, $48,000 in years two through five). The chief noted the county picked up the tab for the co-responder program through October 2026.
- Fire Department: 27 full-time and two part-time staff, all-hazards department. Overtime costs decreased by $35,000 due to staffing and policy changes. Inspection fee collection doubled from $9,000 to $19,000 through improved billing processes. Capital needs include thermal imaging cameras, hydraulic extrication equipment (end of life), mobile data computers, and an ambulance (purchased, awaiting delivery). The chief recommended delaying the quint purchase to align with potential new facility construction.
- Public Works (DPW): Covers facilities maintenance, streets, sidewalks, water/sewer, parks, and sanitation. Major capital projects include City Hall lift replacement ($200,000), HVAC controls upgrades ($300,000), and methane extraction improvements at Southwest Yard (estimated $500,000–$600,000 for remediation). Work order system is spreadsheet-based; a GIS-integrated system is planned after asset inventory completion.
- Community and Economic Development (CED): Self-sustaining through permits and fees. Administering $420,000 in ULSA grant funds for minor home repairs. Code enforcement activity increased: 299 tickets in 2024, 400 in 2025. Proposed moving a part-time code enforcement officer to full-time (additional $43,111). Revenue from state/federal grants decreased by $311,000.
- Parks and Recreation: Three major renovation projects: Martin Road Park service building, playground expansion, and Harding Park inline rink replacement. Over $2.65 million in grant funding secured. Recreation serves nearly 9,000 participants with 106 programs. Sold-out summer camp expanded to 150 spots.
Enterprise and Special Funds
- Major and Local Streets: West Nine Mile repaving in 2027 (80% federal funds). Railroad crossing improvements at Hilton Road ($275,000) to maintain quiet zone compliance. Salt barn replacement delayed to pursue MDOT grant. Concern raised about state road funding backed by volatile marijuana revenues; the city may bond for capital if needed.
- Sanitation Fund: Rates set through a study through FY29. Capital costs include Withington lot trash/recycling compactor replacement and residential trash carts ($565,000). Leaf collection of 9,500 yards. Discussion on reducing brush chipping frequency in low-usage months and potential cost-sharing for street sweeping between sanitation and water funds.
- Downtown Development Authority (DDA): Tax increment financing generates $600,000–$700,000 annually. Major project: sidewalk and wayfinding improvements ($800,000 total, partly grant-funded). Other initiatives: facade improvement program, crosswalk restriping (including a second rainbow crosswalk), valet parking pilot, and CRM/website upgrades. DDA boundaries unchanged since 1981; corridor improvement authority for other areas being explored.
- Auto Parking Fund: Proposed 10-cent per hour rate increase for FY27 (on-street, off-street, garage). Transition to pay-by-space system. Monthly permit rates unchanged. Deficit elimination plan continues with alternating rate increases.
- Water and Sewer Fund: Rates set through FY27 (8.2% water, 10.9% sewer increases annually). Readiness-to-serve fee remains $30/quarter for residential. Lead service line replacement program: 150 planned in FY27, but mandate may increase to 450–500 annually. Total projected cost for remaining 3,700 lines: $35–$40 million. Bonding considered to spread cost over 50–75 year asset life.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken during the workshop.
- Council feedback will be incorporated into a second draft of the budget for first reading on April 13, 2026.
- Final adoption of the FY27 appropriations act is scheduled for April 27, 2026.
- The city manager noted that a fifth strategic priority category—resident services—will be created based on council discussion.
- The DDA’s valet parking pilot is expected to launch in March 2026.
- A voter-approved millage to combine police/fire pension with general employee pension will be on the August 2026 ballot.
- The fire chief will delay the quint purchase until new facility plans are finalized.
- The city will re-engage with railroads on Hilton Road crossing conditions and seek state rail crossing improvement grants.
- The police PSAP upgrade mandate was noted as a significant cost; council may lobby the county for financial assistance.
Meeting Transcript
Calling this meeting to order at 9 AM. May we have a roll call? Johnson. Here. Kelly. McColsky. Here. Subitini. Here. Weeks may here. And approval of the agenda. Madam Mayor, I move the we approve the agenda as presented. Support. All in favor? Hi. Hi. Any opposed. All right. So city manager, will you be starting us off on the well, yes, on the presentation. Yes. We'll just keep this in. All right, good morning, everyone. Uh quick overview of where we are in this uh agenda or budget setting process. Uh so we previously met to discuss our strategic planning goals. Uh internally, the department has and myself worked on a first draft of the budget that was reviewed by my office, uh, that was reviewed by the finance committee this week leading up to this budget workshop. And today is really intended to be um the council bodies first look at our budget setting for fiscal year twenty-seven and then forecasting for twenty-eight and twenty-nine. Uh, the current plan is that we will have our first reading April thirteenth, and then the appropriations act will be adopted on April twenty-seventh. What we're hoping to accomplish today, uh quick review of our strategic priorities based on the strategic planning workshop, and then a look at our uh the regional millage outlook and general fund outlook, followed by specifically general fund department presentations. We'll have a break for lunch, and then in the afternoon, we'll get into enterprise funds and special funds. Again, uh, just starting out our strategic planning discussion, reviewing our mission and vision as we look at what those strategic planning goals are for fiscal year twenty-seven, as well as our values. A community center, the Coolic Center work, police and fire facilities, housing development strategies, and then a bucket we've sort of labeled as other priorities and services. So the goal with the first part of the morning is to take each of these strategic priority areas and review the action items that we've identified. So first under the community center item one dot one, uh, reopening identifying the cost of purchase. We have identified you know, we have identified negotiations are ongoing in this, so there is not a cost impact yet assessed within fiscal year twenty-seven. Uh and I'll I should clarify. Particularly in in this section, as we look at these strategic action items, because this is our interpretation of what you told us. So if something doesn't hit the mark, please let us know so that we can revise. Section 1.2 is the minimum cost to reopen that facility. We did get the draft condition assessment completed by our consultant engineers, and the current cost impact is expected to be between six and seven point six million dollars to reopen that facility, largely driven by the number of major systems that are now inoperable, either due to the flooding that occurred at that facility or just protracted vacancy. 1.3 also has to do with reopening cost estimates. We viewed this as kind of a subsection of the OHM facilities condition assessment. So those costs are delineated within the current FAC draft that we have. But if more information is wanted on them, that we'd be happy to kind of dive into that number. The next one for operational cost, this is us looking at assessing the current or the previous operating costs of the Cooling Center as compared to our current operations for the parks department. That is in progress. Certainly we would expect to have that information before the start of fiscal year 27 and absolutely before we make any determinations on moving forward with a purchase of the cooling center. Similarly, the the cost comparison to our current facilities at Inkibizo. We did note the annualized cost for that current facility is about 33,000 annually. That is factored into the fiscal year 27 budget. And the estimated costs for those are included in the fiscal year 27 budget as outside service costs or professional service costs.
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