After City Manager Benjamin Marchant resolved the Fernley City Council’s budget impasse last Wednesday by offering to resign, the council unanimously adopted a $25.3 million budget for fiscal year 2025-2026, thereby eliminating a $4.2 million water ancillary fee that has increased property taxes for Fernley property owners since 2016.
The budget approved by the council includes the city manager’s position, which was included in the original budget presented to the council. But a motion by Councilman Albert Torres at the May 21 meeting to approve the budget while defunding the city manager’s position was vetoed by Mayor Neal McIntyre, leaving the city without a budget and forcing the council to hold another meeting on May 28.
After two hours of testimony from the council and public comment in which three council members outlined their grievances against Marchant, the council went into recess for more than three hours, during which Mayor Neal McIntyre announced to the members of the audience who remained that City Attorney Aaron Mouritsen was negotiating a separation agreement with Marchant.
When the council reconvened, Councilman Ryan Hanan made a motion to approve the budget as presented, and the motion passed 5-0.
The water ancillary fee was imposed in 2016 to pay principal and interest on debt service payments to pay for the city’s water treatment facility. Elimination of the fee “will save rate payers hundreds or thousands on their property tax bills,” Marchant predicted at an earlier budget workshop in May.
“The water fund has the resources now to fund its operations and debt requirements without collecting this fee,” he said.
The adopted budget is projecting revenues of $20.7 million, plus the use of $4.6 million from the city’s $15.3 million reserve fund, leaving a fund balance in the reserve fund of $10.7 million.
The new budget includes the creation of two new departments in the city, a human resources department, budgeted at $163,090 and a code enforcement department, budgeted at $476,606. The budget anticipates the hiring of 11.5 full time equivalent employees, including two new code enforcement officers, without law enforcement training, 2.5 workers in the public works department, six new employees in the utilities department and one new employee in the planning department.
The budget also includes $100,000 for celebration of the city’s 25th anniversary in July 2026, $80,000 in professional services fees for work on phase III of the Lands Bill conveyance and $1 million in funding for the Community Response and Resource Center to pay any bills not paid in the current fiscal year.
Other expenditures included in the budget include funds for a Cedar Street reconstruction, Fernley Industrial Park rehabilitation and reconstruction, a flashing light at the Farm District Road crosswalk, phase III of the Farm District Road bike path, design for the Red Rock Road extension, design services for the proposed fishing pond park and improvements at In-Town Park, Green Valley Park and Out-of-Town Park.
Funds have also been allocated for fiscal 2026 to complete the Master Plan update, creation of a capital improvements plan, creation of infrastructure plans for the North and Southwest Area plans, adoption of the South Area plan and corridor studies for Main Street, Farm District Road and Highway 95A.
The final budget also includes funding for three new modular buildings, priced at $300,000 each, to house existing and new employees at the Utilities Department. The proposed modular building for city hall was eliminated from the final budget.
Comment
Comments