SUBJECT:
Title
2026 Budget Forecast and Assumptions
Department
DEPARTMENT: Finance
Presenter
PRESENTER(S): Sara Hancock, Finance Director
Cassie Bethune, Budget & Fiscal Manager
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Time
TIME ESTIMATE: 60 minutes
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For time estimate: please put 0 for Consent items.
Fiscolicy
POLICY ISSUES:
Council consideration of policy direction on budget forecast assumptions and priority focus areas for the 2025 Budget.
Recommendation
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff are requesting direction on three key areas: forecast assumptions, budget priority areas, and potential projects to be considered for a 2026 ballot item.
Body
SUMMARY/KEY POINTS
Town departments have submitted their initial 2026 Budget requests, and the Finance department is working to review within the context of the Town's available funds, Council priorities, and anticipated financial forecast. Staff will be discussing functional areas of the budget where monitoring helps inform the 2026 Budget, including:
* Revenue and expenditure monitoring.
* Approach to the long-term financial forecast and capital improvement plan.
* Considerations for debt issuance for future projects.
BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
Ahead of the formal presentation of the recommended 2026 Budget, Town staff is presenting information to support Council's desire to better understand revenue, expenditure, and staffing trends for prior budgets, as well as the approach to the long-term financial forecast. The information contained in this presentation includes:
* Historical Information
o Revenues/Expenditures and Population Growth
o Staffing
* Long-Term Financial Strategy
* Forecast Assumptions
o Future Growth Projections
o General Fund Projections
* Prioritization
o Federal Grant Exposure
o Major Capital Projects
* Debt Capacity
Revenues & Expenditures; Staffing
From 2017 to 2024, the Town of Erie experienced substantial growth in population and in both revenues and corresponding expenditures. Population ...
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