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Attachment 1 Staff Recommendation As the City Council still needs to have a policy discussion around what to set the preliminary not-to-exceed tax levy for the City and EDA, the City Manager does not have a specific recommendation. Given the range of options, the City Council should consider the following factors: 1)The desire to add the public safety personnel in the 2026 budget to address increasing demands for public safety services. 2)The desire to add funding for the City’s capital funds, especially those funds that will have negative balances in the near future. 3)The results of decisions made or not made as part of the 2026 budget consideration that will impact future budget years. 4)The uncertainty of receiving grant funds for the public safety personnel positions at the time the preliminary tax levy is set. 5)The likelihood of implementing franchise fees as another revenue source to assist in the City budget. With all those factors in mind, staff would suggest the best approach at this time is to adopt a preliminary levy that is high enough to provide enough flexibility to allow for the two biggest variables, grant funding and franchise fees, to be known. Staff expects to be notified in October if we are to receive the public safety grants. In regard to franchise fees, assuming there is interest in pursuing, staff and City Council will work on that throughout the Fall. Below is a table of the levy increases for all the scenarios that are currently being considered. Base BudgetScenario 1Scenario 2Scenario 3Scenario 4Scenario 5Scenario 6 Levy Amount$ 33,035,726 $ 34, 048,755$ 34,746,841$ 33,062,755$ 3 3,760,841$ 32,417,755 $ 3 3,115,841 Levy Increase %7.55%10.84%13.12%7.64%9.91%5.54%7.81% As shown in the table, the range of preliminary levies could range as low as 5.54%to as high as 13.12% and any number in between. Qbhf!216!pg!558