Watauga City Council Workshop Meeting - August 10, 2026

The Watauga City Council held a workshop meeting on Monday, August 10, 2026, at 5:30 PM in the City Hall Council Chambers. The primary focus was a detailed budget workshop for Fiscal Year 2027 presented by Finance Director Jennifer Calvert. The Strategic Plan Update was postponed to a future meeting. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Artline with council members Place 4 (Andrew Neal), Place 5 (Stephen Wilch), Place 6 (Mark Taylor), and Place 7 (Jan Hill) present; Place 2 was absent. The meeting adjourned at 6:39 PM.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were made.

Presentations and Discussion Items

• Strategic Plan Update: Postponed to a future workshop or council meeting.
• Budget Workshop (FY 2027): Jennifer Calvert presented the proposed budget.
  • Personnel Enhancement Plan: The only approved request was the reclassification of three Fire Department lieutenants to captains. Requests from the Police Department (intelligence/data analyst position), Public Works (promotion and new building official), and the Library were denied due to budget constraints.
  • General Fund Overview: Total budgeted expenses are $20.9 million. Police accounts for 27.6% ($5.7M) and Fire accounts for 21% ($4.5M).
  • Departmental Highlights:
    • City Secretary budget decreased 1.1% to $273,000.
    • Non-department budget includes the entire $189,000 COLA for General Fund employees.
    • Municipal Court decreased 10% to $444,000.
    • Parks budget decreased 1.3% ($11,000) due to loss of tenured employees reducing longevity pay.
    • Police increased 4.4% ($242,000) for step increases and body camera technology.
    • Fire increased 5% ($212,000) for pay and shared services.
    • Building Maintenance increased 8.3% ($90,000) driven by electricity ($61k) and street lighting ($60k) increases.
    • Transfers increased from $120,000 to $643,000 for equipment replacement, capital projects, and strategic initiatives.
  • Enterprise Funds: Merchant bank charges ($80k) were shifted from General Fund to Water/Sewer. Storm Drain decreased 15% due to project delays.
  • Funded New Requests: $352,000 in one-time expenditures and $12,000 in ongoing expenditures were funded. Key items include $165k for Police facility repairs, $24k for Library building improvements, and $23k for school zone flasher remote programming.
  • Potential Current-Year Funding: Up to $40,000 (Library door/windows, Recreation vehicle wrap, Public Works rear gate opener) may be funded through current year savings.
  • Unfunded Requests: $411k for Animal Shelter repairs, $200k for ADA sidewalk barriers, and $21k for fire hydrant quick connect adapters (deferred for grant research) were not included in the proposed budget.
  • Council members asked clarifying questions regarding longevity pay reductions, merchant fee cost recovery, and worker's compensation increases. Mayor Artline recognized the difficulty of the budget process, noting that many good programs and items were turned down.

Key Outcomes

• Strategic Plan Update officially postponed.
• FY 2027 Budget Workshop presented and discussed. No formal vote taken.
• Regular Council Meeting scheduled to follow immediately at 6:50 PM.

Note on Agenda Discrepancy

• The standard budget statement on the printed agenda references an estimated tax impact for a transition from FY2025 to FY2026 ($1,306 to $1,388 on an average $229,150 home). However, the workshop presentation and discussion consistently referred to the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, indicating a likely discrepancy between the printed agenda template and the actual subject matter of the meeting.