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Record of Proceedings

Grand Island City Council Special Meeting – September 8, 2025: Public Hearings on FY2025-2026 Budget and Tax Requests

City Council — Monday, September 8, 2025
BodyGrand Island, Nebraska
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, September 8, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 19:18

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

Welcome to our meeting.

0:06

The date is September 8, 2025.

0:09

The time is 6 p.m.

0:12

This is an open meeting of the Grand Island City Council.

0:15

The City of Grand Island abides by the Open Meetings Act in conducting business.

0:20

A copy of the Open Meetings Act is displayed in the back of this room as required by state law.

0:37

Federal late than never, huh?

0:47

Please rise as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:00

And to the Republic for which it stands.

1:03

One nation under God.

1:13

The City Clerk will now perform roll call.

1:16

Council President Shearden.

1:17

Present.

1:18

Councilmember Stelk.

1:19

Present.

1:20

Councilmember Conley.

1:21

Present.

1:22

Councilmember Nickerson.

1:23

Present.

1:24

Councilmember Brown.

1:25

Present.

1:25

Councilmember Hazi.

1:27

Present.

1:27

Councilmember Mendoza will be absent.

1:29

Councilmember O'Neill.

1:30

Present.

1:31

Councilmember Pollock.

1:32

Present.

1:33

Councilmember Lanfair.

1:34

Present.

1:35

And Mayor Steele.

1:36

Present.

1:37

Also present are the City Clerk, Jill Grenier, Laura McAloon, the City Administrator.

1:44

Patrick Brown, the assistant city administrator, and chief financial officer.

1:50

Carrie Fisk, the city attorney, and Keith Kurtz, the public works director.

1:57

Individuals who have appropriate items for city council consideration should complete the request for future agenda items form located at the information booth.

2:08

If the issue can be handled administratively without council action, notification will be provided.

2:16

If the item is scheduled for a meeting or study session, notification of the date will be given.

2:40

State your name and the agenda topic on which you will be speaking.

2:55

No one is present in council chambers.

2:58

No one has signed up to speak, and no one has come forward to speak.

3:03

So we shall continue with our public hearings.

3:07

Public hearing 6a.

3:10

Public hearing on fiscal year 2025 to 2026 annual single city budget and annual appropriations bill.

3:21

Good afternoon, Mr.

3:22

Brown.

3:23

Good afternoon.

3:23

Thank you, Mayor.

3:24

Uh good evening, Council.

3:26

So this evening we're having a public hearing on our budget.

3:30

The reason we are meeting this evening, it needs to be a separate and distinct meeting arrest from all city council matters with no time limits.

3:39

And so this is why we are having this on a special day.

3:44

A lot of this information is out on the website and in your packet, obviously.

3:50

But I just want to kind of show you where the proposed budget is.

3:53

So you just go to our uh website, hit the fiscal twenty-six proposed budget, go to executive overview, and this is what we'll talk about first.

4:15

So the budget document, I think is one of the most important documents the city has.

4:19

I think it's next to the strategic plan and also obviously the auditors and the audit report.

4:27

So this is a comprehensive uh process going through all the activities of the city, looking at what we're spending money on, see where our revenues are coming in, and so on and so forth.

4:39

So below here is a comparison for the fiscal year 26 to the fiscal year 25 budget.

4:47

So the fiscal 26 proposed budget disbursement transfers 8.3 percent or 25 million, 26 million higher than adopted 25 budget.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████████████████████55%
Public Finance████████████████████24%
Procedural█████████████████21%
Summary of Proceedings

Grand Island City Council Special Meeting – September 8, 2025: Public Hearings on FY2025-2026 Budget and Tax Requests

The Grand Island City Council convened a special meeting on September 8, 2025, at 6:00 PM to hold three public hearings on the proposed FY2025-2026 annual single city budget, the general property and Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA) tax request, and the Parking District #2 (Ramp) tax request. City Administrator Patrick Brown presented the budget overview, noting that the city is proposing to maintain the same property tax ask of $13 million as the previous seven years, leading to a reduction in the combined city and CRA mill levy from 0.278135 to 0.257290. No members of the public provided testimony during the hearings.

Public Hearings

FY2025-2026 Annual Single City Budget and Appropriations Bill

  • The proposed budget includes an 8.3% increase in total disbursements and transfers, primarily due to general fund cash reserves and bond proceeds for parks projects and the Good Life District.
  • Property tax revenues: Despite an 8.1% increase in city valuations to $5 billion, the city requests the same $13 million in property tax revenue as the past seven years, reducing the city mill levy from 0.2610 to 0.2415 and the CRA mill levy from 0.0170 to 0.0158.
  • General fund revenues are projected at $53.7 million, a 0.7% increase over FY25.
  • Personnel expenses increase 6.5% to $43.6 million, while operating expenses decrease 3.48% to $11.3 million, leading to an overall general fund expense increase of 4.3% ($2.2 million).
  • Sales tax revenues are forecast at $29.7 million, a 2% increase.
  • The city plans $82 million in capital improvement projects and equipment purchases.
  • New full-time equivalent (FTE) positions include a police officer, 2.5 community service officers for animal control, a parks maintenance worker, an attorney, and a part-time library assistant. A proposed reclassification of a support services administrator in the police department was deferred for further study.
  • The general fund ending cash balance for FY26 is projected at $21.7 million, with excess reserves of $7.5 million. A five-year projection indicates a potential deficit starting in FY29.

General Property and CRA Tax Request

  • The combined city and CRA tax request remains at $13 million, with the mill levy decreasing from 0.278135 to 0.257290.

Parking District #2 (Ramp) Tax Request

  • The parking ramp tax request is $9,090, with the mill levy decreasing from 0.01047 to 0.009711.

Key Outcomes

  • The three public hearings were opened and no public testimony was offered; all hearings were closed.
  • No formal action (adoption of the budget or tax requests) was taken at this special meeting. The council is expected to consider the budget and appropriations bill in a future meeting.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to our meeting. The date is September 8, 2025. The time is 6 p.m. This is an open meeting of the Grand Island City Council. The City of Grand Island abides by the Open Meetings Act in conducting business. A copy of the Open Meetings Act is displayed in the back of this room as required by state law. Federal late than never, huh? Please rise as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God. The City Clerk will now perform roll call. Council President Shearden. Present. Councilmember Stelk. Present. Councilmember Conley. Present. Councilmember Nickerson. Present. Councilmember Brown. Present. Councilmember Hazi. Present. Councilmember Mendoza will be absent. Councilmember O'Neill. Present. Councilmember Pollock. Present. Councilmember Lanfair. Present. And Mayor Steele. Present. Also present are the City Clerk, Jill Grenier, Laura McAloon, the City Administrator. Patrick Brown, the assistant city administrator, and chief financial officer. Carrie Fisk, the city attorney, and Keith Kurtz, the public works director. Individuals who have appropriate items for city council consideration should complete the request for future agenda items form located at the information booth. If the issue can be handled administratively without council action, notification will be provided. If the item is scheduled for a meeting or study session, notification of the date will be given. State your name and the agenda topic on which you will be speaking. No one is present in council chambers. No one has signed up to speak, and no one has come forward to speak. So we shall continue with our public hearings. Public hearing 6a. Public hearing on fiscal year 2025 to 2026 annual single city budget and annual appropriations bill. Good afternoon, Mr. Brown. Good afternoon. Thank you, Mayor. Uh good evening, Council. So this evening we're having a public hearing on our budget.

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