The Avalon City Council this week voted unanimously to adopt the 2026-27 budget.
The vote came roughly three and a half hours into a four-hour meeting on Tuesday, June 17. (The meeting dealt with 18 public agenda items, including matters that couldn’t be discussed at the previous council meeting because technical problems forced the cancelation of the previous meeting.)
During his presentation to the council, Finance Director Matthew Baker said that operating revenues and expenditures increased by about 3 to 4% in the 2026-27 budget.
“Which is nice that the operating revenues and expenditures are more in line so that as if we can keep that trend going, we’ll be able to continue to operate in a in a balanced way,” Baker said.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re hesitant to add new full positions is because while we are operating in a balanced way, there isn’t a huge delta right now between that conservative revenue estimate and our operating expenses,” Baker said.
“Next year there’s going to be a lot of construction in the in the harbor. That’s going to present a number of challenges,” Baker said later.
He said he thought it would be an exciting fiscal year.
Background
“The proposed budget includes expenditures totaling $69.84 million, including operating expenditures of $38.23 million, capital outlays of $23.57 million, and internal service charges and transfers of $8.03 million. The proposed budget represents a 10.9% increase from the previous fiscal year,” according to the staff report by Finance Director Matthew Baker.
“The budget proposes increases in operating expenditures of $1 .22 million or 3.3%. Salaries and benefits account for 33.9% of operating expenditures and are proposed to increase by $651 thousand or 5.3%. The increase is partially attributable to increases in unfunded pension liability expenses of $131 thousand or 10.4%, in addition to wage and benefit increases as approved in the memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the City’s bargaining units adopted during the current fiscal year. The proposed budget does not include any new full-time positions but increases the number of budgeted part-time hours available for Recreation, Harbor Patrol, and Public Works,” Baker wrote.
“Contracted services represent 49.3% of the operating budget and are budgeted to increase by $419 thousand or 2.3%, with increases driven by inflation adjustment clauses in contracts. Maintenance and operations account for the remaining 16.8% of operating expenditures and are budgeted to increase by 3.1%,” Baker wrote.
“The overall modest increase in the proposed operating budgets further demonstrates the City’s prudent use of public funds. The increase in the proposed budget is driven by increases in capital outlays, with several major capital projects scheduled for construction in the upcoming fiscal year,” Baker wrote.