FY2028 Budget Philosophy and Priorities

At a glance

What: council's first discussion of how to approach the FY2028 budget: base-budget review, discretionary versus required costs, revenue neutrality, values and priorities.
Status: early; no decisions. Revaluation numbers expected around January; the retreat in early 2027 and spring work sessions follow.
Key points: FY2027 budget about $60 million, of which about $53.4 million is basic department functions; a possible loss of a penny or two on revaluation; one member favored revenue neutrality, others said it is too early.

(From auto-captions; names and numbers may be misheard.)

2026-08-22 - Town Council Retreat - Retreat walked through the FY2027 expense breakdown, revenue authority, a lengthy values list (equity, affordability, transparency, data-driven decisions, resilience, innovation, sustainability, quality of life) and community-engagement ideas; staff promised expanded category descriptions and offset revenues (from auto-captions)