2026-10-27 Regular Council Meeting

The City of DuPont’s October 27, 2026 regular council meeting included its first review of the mayor’s preliminary 2027 budget; no budget or procurement award was adopted. The presentation proposed a planning manager position costing about $64,000 more than the prior staffing structure, with the stated aim of reducing consultant expenses, and an operations manager position costing just under $32,000, allocated among street, water, and stormwater funds. The budget also includes a $25,000 annual computer-replacement allowance and increased asset-replacement contributions, including planned replacement of two older police vehicles. A one-time $65,000 emergency-management contract expense was discussed. Council members debated whether to include labor-cost placeholders: the proposed budget has a 4% cost-of-living increase for exempt staff but no placeholder for union contracts; members discussed adding placeholders for police and other groups, and whether exempt increases should be reduced to 3%. The police placeholder amount was stated inconsistently in the discussion, and legal review was requested. No final budget decision was made.

The council also discussed a proposal to allocate all city investment-interest revenue to the general fund, estimated to generate about $300,000 annually at a 2% return, and asked staff to examine whether the allocation could be split among funds. Revenue estimates, including $400,000 in REET revenue, prompted calls for conservative budgeting. Sidewalk maintenance was not included in the preliminary budget; council members requested a detailed sidewalk funding study session, proposed for February. The mayor’s legislative priorities are to seek state capital funding for improvements to the city building’s HVAC and filtration systems for emergency respite use. The council approved the agenda and consent agenda and appointed Julie Murray as city attorney; neither action constituted a procurement award.