October 2025 City Manager's Newsletter Message

2026 Budget Investments Reach Beyond Next Year

October is a big month for assembling our 2026 budget. Fresh from September’s budget road show stops – the PT Farmers Market, the radio, service clubs like Kiwanis – I’d like to give you a sense of how it’s all coming together.

In brief, we’ve drafted a balanced budget that delivers core services that you expect and depend on, provides consistent momentum, balances level of service with ability to pay, and plans responsibly for the future.

Here’s what I mean – and I’ll use a few examples:

• Our Streets program languished for years as state funding for local streets evaporated decades ago. With the voter-approved Transportation Benefit District and our remarkable streak of leveraging grants, we are building back from years of neglect.  Your street might not be on the 2026 list, but we will get there. 
  Estimated* 2026 investment: $8m.
   
• Our Sewer system might be considered, until recently, “forgotten but not gone.”  While the Treatment Plant itself won a record 27^th straight year of awards, the pipe and pump system started showing its age, with multiple breaks.  Our new rate model helps us get ahead after years of deferred maintenance and replacement. An income-based discount for customers helps offset the impact of those rates, as does our recent successes with state funding.   Estimated* 2026 investment: $8.5m.
   
• Our Water system provides us some of the cleanest water anywhere on the planet – but what about that 29-mile water line built in 1927 that delivers it to town?  We are now four years into our agreement with the Mill that, for the first time in a century, sets aside needed funding for repair and replacement of the line. While those funds wait to be invested in materials, they are being invested in the bank – and earning $300,000 a year in interest.  Estimated* 2026 investment: $4.4m.
   
• Our Parks system has a lot to offer, but has been challenged by inconsistent funding and maintenance catch-up. Focused attention to parks planning (and partnerships with groups like the Friends of the PT Golf Park) helped us secure our first state funded grant in 20 years, with a $500,000 playground on the way in 2026.  Bringing the library, parks, and arts together into one department helps us build collective strength and efficiency. 
  Estimated* 2026 investment: $2.3m
   
• Investments in modern equipment, training, and staff retention have been the focus over the past few years and continue into 2026 and beyond. 
  Estimated* 2026 investment: $5m.
   
• Our City Fleets and Facilities are notoriously unpredictable, and budgeting maintenance and replacement from year to year equally so.  Committing to a set-aside fund for fleets and another one for facilities allows us to get on a regular schedule of repair and replacement, significantly reducing unpredictable budget impacts. It’s a little bit like saving for retirement – putting away money now for when you need it. 
  Estimated* 2026 investment: $1.24m (fleets, including $490,000 for reserve) and $450,000 (facilities reserve)
   
• Our Rainy Day Fund was created last year and bolsters our Contingency Fund.  While we have reserve funds for each of 36 separate City funds, the Rainy Day Fund now allows us to set aside one-time revenue and funds not spent due to staff vacancies, saving it for that rainy day and keeps our momentum going when the economy tries to slow us down. Conservative revenue estimates also keep us from overextending on staff or projects and having to scale back. 
  Estimated* 2026 investment: $100,000.
   
• Our approach to housing is critical to mention as well. While we support affordable housing by deferring and waiving fees (about $240,000 last year) and fund affordable housing in partnership with Jefferson County and the Housing Fund Board ($1,565,000 last year), finishing the Comprehensive Plan in 2025 and beginning implementation in 2026 will be a game-changer to providing more attainable and affordable housing. It also puts the City – and our community – on more stable economic footing in the long haul.  Quantifying our investment in housing is challenging, but suffice to say, it’s substantial. Details will be in the final budget.

This is not all of the work we’re budgeting – there’s more – and many of these investments will unfold over more than 2026.  But do you detect a general theme?  We’re on a multi-year journey to build back from neglect and underinvestment, building momentum through changing our practices and philosophy. After all, we can’t predict exactly what 2026 or beyond might hold, but we ensure we’re ready for almost anything with a balanced, smart, and fiscally prudent budget that puts us on stable footing for years to come.

Look for our forthcoming budget video, learn more on our website (cityofpt.us/finance), and participate in the process.  You can also join me at my next community coffee conversation, every first Friday from 9-1030am at Marina Café through the rest of the year.  Or reach out by email at jmauro@ciytofpt.us.

* Estimated: The investment numbers are preliminary estimates still being refined, include grants received (but not grants anticipated), and still need City Council approval. Also note that projects may either carry forward from 2025 into 2026 or from 2026 to 2027 which affects final numbers.