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The 2026 Debt Related Levies and Street improvement Levies are proposed to increase by $0 over the 2025 combined debt levies. The 2026 debt levy certified will be $1,840,953. This is an increase of $382,258 compared to the 2025 debt levy due to the 2024 debt issue being included and having reduced available funds on hand in 2025, leaving less availability to reduce the debt levy by funds on hand. This increase in the debt levy will be offset by a decrease in its Infrastructure Levy by the same sum. This results in a combined flat levy impact for the street improvement program for a seventh consecutive year. CAPITAL FUNDS The 2026 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) levy is proposed to increase by $30,000. The 2026 Building Improvement levy is proposed to increase by $25,000 and the Park Improvement levy is proposed to increase $10,000. These moderate levy increases are recommended to account for expenses capital improvement plans. Council will review the Capital Improvement Plan and funding options in October. PROJECTED BASE LEVY INCREASE To date, the projected levy increase needed to maintain Cit services at their current levels is presented below: Note that preliminary levy increases for cities around the Metropolitan area are anticipated to be in the range of 6% -13.4%, with an average increase of 8.8% FIRE DEPARTMENT STAFFING REQUEST A significant factor in the 2026 budget is the Fire Department request to add staff to meet the medical needs of the community and strive for OSHA compliance and a safer environment for fire department staff. At the August 12 work session Chief Diaz presented a detailed overview of the current fire department staffing structure and challenges, along with call volume data and NFPA and OSHA standards that fire staff are unable to meet with current resources. At this work session, Finance staff also provided an updated overall levy scenario with correlating levy impacts for phasing in requested Firefighter/Paramedic positions. STAFFING REQUEUST FUNDING OPTIONS At the City Council’s work Session on August 12th, 2025 the Council expressed support for the needs of the staffing request and asked staff to present funding options to best accommodate the request and minimize levy impact. In subsequent staff discussions, it was determined that hiring one or two positions does not adequately address the service level need. As a result, the scenarios are presented with the assumption of hiring three additional Firefighter/Paramedics, which is one for each shift. Below are options for the Council to consider in regards to the staffing request. These fall into 3 categories: 44