Budget Review for Resiliency, Sustainability, Public Services, Planning, Building, IT – April 9, 2026
Budget Review for Resiliency and Sustainability, Public Services, Planning and Development, Building Inspections, and IT Departments – April 9, 2026
The city council held a budget workshop on April 9, 2026, to review the proposed 2026-27 budgets for Public Services, Planning and Development, Building Inspections, IT, and Resilience and Sustainability. Directors presented their budgets, achievements, and capital projects. Council members asked questions about staffing, revenue, and organizational structure. No formal votes were taken; the workshop was informational.
Public Services Budget Presentation
- Director Bill Riccio presented the Public Services budget, noting that personnel salary and benefits account for roughly 50% of the budget, contract services 35%, and equipment/fleet 5-7%. The major change is the proposal for two new labor positions: one for the Cliff Walk and grounds/forestry, and one for public works to support aggressive litter collection, which totaled 19 tons last year. Snow material costs were increased due to a harsh winter. Council questions focused on the positions' capabilities (e.g., plowing during snow emergencies) and on capital projects: wash bay, tennis courts, playgrounds, Edward King House HVAC and elevator upgrades, and roadway improvements. Discussion included reallocating $500,000 from the transportation master plan implementation to preserve matching funds for the Safe Streets for All grant. A council member asked about reinstating $3 million for roadway improvements; Riccio noted personnel bandwidth constraints. Achievements included a $500,000 large park grant for Chafey site, a pilot curbside food waste composting program with 600 openings, migration of engineering permit system to OpenGov, 99% completion of geothermal system at Brick Market, and progress on Edward King House.
Planning and Development Budget Presentation
- Director Trish Reynolds presented the Planning and Development budget, which is essentially level-funded with reductions in advertising and subscriptions. The department houses 12 staff (including zoning, short-term rentals, preservation, compliance). Revenues include short-term rental fees ($360,000). Achievements: historic preservation lead hazard manual, STRS compliance software leading to 45% renewal applications a month earlier and identification of 40 unregistered rentals, comprehensive plan update to be completed by October 2026, an award for excellence in housing planning, and 76 new housing units constructed (exceeding the 50-unit annual goal). Zoning officer is updating the code. Council questions clarified the Safe Streets for All grant: a federal program for roadway safety, with a regional grant of $19 million (Newport's share $4 million) for sidewalks, speed signs, and school safety. A council member asked about union/non-union staff and proposed raises: 3% across the board for non-union, and a one-year agreement with NEA for 3% COLA.
Building Inspections Budget Presentation
- Director Brad Ward presented the Building Inspections budget, noting gratitude for the new assistant building inspector position. The budget is mostly contractual with minimal increases except for training. Achievements: inspections are increasing. Council questions about lead inspections: Ward stated that without addresses from the state health department, the city cannot effectively enforce lead hazard regulations. The department generates approximately $2 million in revenue.
IT Department Budget Presentation
- Director Nick Craig presented the IT budget, which is largely unchanged from FY25. Funds were reallocated from managed services to cover the deputy director of IT salary. Key line items include hosting/maintenance (Tyler Munis ERP), licensing, and a reduction in telephone costs from an audit. Capital projects: core switching replacement, telephone system (future), data center cooling, department software/hardware upgrades, Harbor Wi-Fi (green mile completed), parking sensors/digital displays, and wireless LAN replacement. Achievements: migration to Office 365 Government tenant, domain migration, noise trailer program completion, cybersecurity grant commission participation, endpoint security upgrades, immutable backup infrastructure, and a $200,000 reduction in telecom costs. The GIS coordinator received a special achievement award. The department has no revenue.
Discussion on Department Revenues
- Council members asked about total revenue generated by city departments. The city manager noted that building inspections brings in about $2 million, planning $360,000 from STRS, IT and public services generate no direct revenue. Total charges for services in FY26 are $13.8 million, proposed FY27 at $15.3 million. Other revenue sources include meals and beverage tax, etc., but not discussed in detail.
Resilience and Sustainability Budget Presentation
- Director Teresa Crean presented the Resilience and Sustainability budget. The combined RNS/IT budget is $3.2 million; RNS alone is $571,000. The department now has three staff (director, grants officer, resilience assistant). The increase from FY26 reflects the first full year of all salaries. Purchase services increased by $5,000 for certifications. The department oversees many projects. A key achievement: on time and on budget for Florence Gray Center renovation, with certificate of occupancy expected end of August. Grants officer Peter Bramante reported 10 new grants valued over $9 million, plus the regional Safe Streets for All grant ($15 million island-wide). Three applications submitted for $25 million. A grants management system (Unigrants) is being launched, which will track 20 active grants, 16 projects, $23 million in grant funding, $17 million in bond funds, and $3 million in CIP funds, totaling $70 million. A council member expressed objection to the organizational structure placing Public Services and Utilities under Resilience and Sustainability, arguing that communication should go directly to the city manager.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or decisions were made during this workshop. All presentations were informational. The council is expected to continue budget discussions at future meetings, including a workshop on April 16 for utilities. The proposal to reallocate $500,000 from transportation master plan to preserve Safe Streets for All matching funds will be discussed at a Monday night workshop with BPEC. The proposed budgets and raises (3% for non-union, 3% for NEA) will be subject to future council approval.
Meeting Transcript
Resiliency and sustainability, public services, planning and development, building inspections, and the IT department for the 2026-27 proposed budget. And it looks like we'll start off with uh Mr. Riccio. Ray. Ray. Can you put public services slides up? That's my working on getting. I'll just ask Bill to speak loudly. No. Get you going. All right. So I'm gonna um lead off tonight with the Prime of Public Services. Um first slide is just the general breakdown that finance provided. It's it's sort of like I call it the bucket slide. Um, you know, in in past years I've um modeled it a little differently, but you know, essentially um personnel salary and benefits is roughly 50% of my budget contract services is another uh roughly 35. Um that would be made up of our road work contract, our solid waste, as you know, we outsource that in addition to fleet uh fleet management, uh decorative street lighting, um, and all uh you know extra electric contractors and HVAC contractors, and then um equipment and fleet, gas, vehicle maintenance. That's usually around five to seven percent. And you know, when we get down to it, and then when you add utilities and insurances, et cetera, those are all the uncontrollables. It usually comes out to be ninety-four, ninety-five percent of our budget. So we're looking at five or six percent, which is you know, operating supplies, which includes no materials, road and sidewalk like concrete and asphalt and things for the all of the um in-house operations, you know, right down to mutt mitts and pens and paper. Um so that's um pretty much yeah, in the nutshell, you know, in a um on the high level. Um what's changed in our budget this year is we made this proposal last year as well. Um, and we're bringing it forward and including it in this budget is for two new labor positions. Um basically throughout the organization. Um pretty much they'll be centered on last year. If you remember, the conversation was to have essentially a full-timer seasonally that would take care of the cliffwalk and be able to help with some of the ancillary grounds and forestry items, and then one on the public works side. Uh as you know, we started taking four or five years ago. We started to take it taking a really aggressive approach on litter collection on the streets and the rights of way. Last year we actually collected a staggering 19 tons of litter. Um, you know, it's really important because as we developed and rolled out that program, you know, obviously when you move your resources around, some things aren't being tendered to as strongly. So, you know, it's become a commitment of uh of ours, and it's you know, it's just time to staff up a little more. So and it helps throughout all other parts of the the year as well. Um so that's pretty much the you know the the big modification. I did make a couple of adjustments throughout my budget um to take care of some needs, not that that have developed, but I mean obviously we know we had a pretty brutal winter. Um and costs have gone up. We really haven't asked for an increase in um snow materials, predominantly salts in a number of years, so we increase that. Um nothing over the top crazy. Um and um yeah, that's pretty much it. Everything else, you know, we go into these budgets with you know, keep it keep it as controlled and tight as possible. So um we do, I think you all know we do an excellent job in providing what we need to provide um and going above and beyond in my opinion. So with the um the two labor positions um because of the level, what is like the cap that they're allowed to do as far as work goes? Like, for instance, if we had them during the snowstorm, would are they able to jump on a plow? Oh, yeah, things like that, like exactly it's it's all in the you know, unfortunately the not unfortunately, but the labor level is the intro level. Yeah, um it's the lowest level within the it's like the entry point. Um, and then we have like maintenance persons, labor equipment operators, um, and and you know, it's the boots on the ground, it's the um but everyone ships in where it's needed, you know, and it gets into emergency situations, which essentially it's no response is everybody is everybody's in a plow of some of some sort. Obviously, the CDL drivers are in the bigger rigs, yeah. And uh the ones that might not have those um would be in the you know the plow trucks and stuff like that, but it's you know it's all hands on deck, and you know, that's pretty much throughout the year too where you need it, you go. Um and you know, labor is just not the one with the shovel all the time. So um Bill, the capital projects you have listed, uh vehicle Bay Wall, uh Wash Bay, Rogers tennis court improvements, et cetera. Are those um general fund expenditures or are some of those um grants as well?
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