The FY2027 Moscow City Budget Hearing

Read the full transcript of the video below:

How’s it going y’all? Aiden Anderson here with the Moscow Minutes. This week, the Moscow City Council approved the city budget for FY2027. Let’s take a look at how it went down!

We went through the Moscow City budget in detail in a previous report, so we’ll just take a look at some highlights now. As Bill Belknap presented at the meeting, the total amount for the city budget for FY2027 is $149,942,154. Excluding long-term capital accumulations included in that amount, the total budget for this year is $61,660,429.

As Belknap explained, there are a number of sources of financial pressure the city is bearing up under right now, including inflation, reductions in city revenue, and increases in health insurance premiums for city employees. As a result, the city is looking at taking the 3% increase in property taxes alongside the remaining foregone balance, bringing funds from property taxes this year (based on the property tax certification) to $9,445,604.

Belknap broke down the various details of the budget which again you can find in our previous reports, and which have remained largely unchanged since the last couple budget discussions. Of note, Belknap went through the city’s planned capital improvements for the coming fiscal year, which included a number of roadway improvements, repairs, and new public art installations among others.

With Belknap’s presentation concluded, the Mayor opened the public hearing to receive comments from citizens about the budget. A total of 17 people spoke during this portion of the meeting, with 12 giving testimony against the proposed budget, 3 in favor of it, and 2 making comments of a neutral nature. 

It would be better to watch the meeting itself if you want to hear all the details of the public comment period. That said, the majority of those opposed to the budget expressed concern about the budget’s seeming deprioritization of items such as public safety and roads, while making space for otherwise seemingly less crucial projects. In particular, the East City Park stage was cited as an example multiple times.

Those who spoke in favor of the budget asserted that the budget for the coming year appeared to balance a number of priorities without being focused too narrowly on one thing or the other. Those who spoke neutrally came with specific queries in mind, one about the nature of state funding as it related to city street funds, and another asking for the city to consider a future updated economic study.

With public comment concluded, it was time for the council to deliberate. In large part the council’s comments were in defense of the budget, believing it to be useful in order to put the city in a good position for the future. After such comments were made, it was time to vote, and the budget vote was split into three actions: a tax recovery resolution, a budget appropriation ordinance, and the L-2 property tax certification. After some back and forth on the details of the process, all three actions were approved by the city council, with Evan Holmes dissenting once on the budget ordinance.

To accompany the budget, the city has a fee resolution including all the changes to city fees going into the coming fiscal year. According to Idaho code, any fee increase greater than 5% requires a public hearing. Belknap again walked the council through the anticipated fee changes, which included a new fee for inspection services outside of normal business hours, and a water service fee increase of 5.15%. Bill also mentioned that the vast majority of the fee changes had to do with keeping up with costs for providing city services.

Public comment for this hearing was shorter than for the budget proper, and contained a fair spread of negative, positive, and neutral comments. Council deliberation was similarly brief, with the council acknowledging the need to keep up with inflationary pressures and expenses outside the city’s control. With that, they approved the fee resolution unanimously.

So, that’s one local government budget out of the way, with another coming up very soon. The public hearing for the Latah County budget is scheduled for September 1st at 2pm at the county courthouse. We’ll have a summary of that budget ready for you soon, and I would strongly encourage you to attend the public hearing!

As always, we’ll have the relevant links posted with this video, and if you have any questions, please reach out. I’m Aiden Anderson with the Moscow Minutes. We’ll see you next time!