Documents and Recordings

June 12: The Proposed Budget Is Out

The Mayor's proposed FY2027 budget was distributed to council on June 12. It totals $149,292,804, about $10 million (7.0%) more than FY2026. Of that, $74.1 million (49.6%) is fund balance carried forward from prior years, most of it reserved for capital projects. All page references below are to the budget document, posted in full under Documents and Recordings above.

Property taxes

The budget takes the statutory maximum 3% increase, worth $243,582, plus the last $15,141 of the city's foregone balance. The foregone reserve is now exhausted permanently (p. 3, 19). New construction adds an estimated $130,553. Because assessed valuation grew faster than the levy, the proposed rate falls slightly to $3.56 per $1,000 and the city tax on a $400,000 home is estimated to decrease by $2.85 for the year (p. 19).

Compensation: employees absorb the squeeze

• Health insurance: the city's insurer initially requested a 50% premium increase. The city negotiated it to 28.6%, still nearly $600,000 more than FY2026 (p. 2).
• Cost-of-living increase: 2.0%, below the 2.6% CPI. The city's own message notes CPI rose 25.6% from 2019 to 2024 while city COLAs totaled 17% (p. 3).
• Performance increase: 2%, half the 4% the city says it would prefer to provide (p. 3).
• Dependent insurance coverage rises from 65% to 70%; employees with family coverage still pay about $55 more per month (p. 2-3).
• The eight positions eliminated in FY2024 and FY2026, including three patrol officers, stay eliminated (p. 15).

The stage is in the budget

The East City Park stage replacement appears in FY2027 Parks capital at $796,000, revised from the $885,000 budgeted in FY2026, plus $105,000 in 1% for Art funds for installations at the stage and the police station (p. 17, 311). For scale: the entire new property tax revenue from the maximum allowed increase plus foregone is $258,723. The stage line alone is three times that. The transfer map at the bottom of this page shows exactly where it lives.

The Mayor's own priority list

The budget message names the city's highest-priority issues: City Shop inefficiencies and safety concerns ($785,250 to complete), inability to recruit sufficient staff, inadequate funding to properly maintain city streets ($1,355,945 in roadway improvements), and deteriorating downtown streetscape and infrastructure ($200,000 for design only) (p. 2). Those words are the administration's, not ours. The same budget funds the stage.

Changed since the March workshop

• The budget workshop moved from July 7 (all day) to July 8 at 8:30 AM (p. 4).
• March assumed a 2.6% COLA and 3% performance increase. The proposal cut both to 2%.
• The projected $50,000 to $80,000 general fund gap closed on the backs of those cuts and the maintained position eliminations.
• Certified 2025 assessed valuation came in at $2.573 billion, 3.9% above the estimate used in the FY2026 budget (p. 19).

March 23 Workshop: The FY2027 Fiscal Picture

The city administration presented a status report on 13 strategic initiatives established in fall 2022 and previewed the FY2027 budget environment. The short version: the budget is short before it starts.

Revenue

The city can raise its property tax levy by 3% annually. On an $8 million levy, that produces $240,000. New construction adds $60,000 to $100,000. The last of the foregone balance is $15,000. Total new revenue for FY27: $315,000 to $355,000.

Costs

Assuming 2.6% cost-of-living, 3% performance increases, and 8% health insurance increase, general fund payroll rises $522,000 plus $62,000 for recreation/culture. After recapturing about 30% through enterprise fund allocations, the net general fund hit is roughly $408,000. That is $50,000 to $80,000 more than the new revenue before accounting for any non-personnel cost increases.

What is frozen, cut, or lost

• Seven positions held vacant since 2023. Roughly $600,000 in salary and benefits. No funding to restore them.
• Departments cut discretionary spending 20% two years ago. That is now the permanent baseline.
• The Attorney General's office is pulling $138,000/yr in funding for a forensic detective. The city keeps the detective but loses a patrol slot. PD will be down three unfunded patrol positions.
• Jail closure is adding roughly $6,000/month in overtime for prisoner transport to Lewiston.
• Health insurance net loss ratio is running at 117.8%. Last year's 1.9% renewal was lucky. This year will be higher. Dependent coverage increase (currently 65%, targeting 80%) may have to pause.

Capital

The Bradbury court ruling eliminated $700,000/yr in street fund capital capacity. The CIP has carried a 3% construction cost escalator when, by the administration's own statement, it should have been 8 to 10%. The city has $58 million invested at roughly 4-4.5%, earning about $2 million/yr in interest. That money flows to capital funds, not operations.

What is working

• Emergency radio system and city shop both completing this year.
• Fire/EMS operates at $1.9 million through a three-way partnership of volunteers, student residents, and paid staff. A fully paid department would cost $7 to $8 million.
• Staff recruitment has improved through salary surveys, cadet programs, and dependent insurance increases (50% to 65%, targeting 80%).
• Grant writer continues to deliver: Mountain View TAP and D Street projects both likely funded.
• Alternative water supply study (Snake River, HDR consultant) on track to complete by end of year.

Deferred and redirected

• South Main pedestrian underpass has been deemed infeasible. The project has been redirected to surface improvements. Landscape design ($23,153) delayed to 2027.
• Downtown streetscape study came back at $26 million. Placed on hold. The city is now planning incremental, targeted improvements instead.
• Playfield lighting at the Moscow School District Community Playfields is under discussion as a joint project. Cost: roughly $2 million. Would expand hours of operation without building new fields.

What happens before the public sees the budget

The budget calendar shows the internal process. Department budget requests are due April 10. Department meetings run April 22 through May 1. The Mayor reviews the budget May 12-15. Fee resolutions are finalized by May 15. The new construction roll comes in from the County by June 1. The budget is finalized in early June and delivered to the council on June 12. By the time residents see the draft, five months of internal work is already done.

Strategic initiative reset this fall

The current 13 strategic initiatives were set in fall 2022. This fall, the slate gets wiped clean. Each council member, the mayor, and the executive team submit up to three priorities. Those are scored on impact, pervasiveness, urgency, controllability, and community vision. The results get ranked and discussed at the September 14 workshop. Final plan adoption is targeted for December. This is a real opportunity for residents to weigh in on what the city should focus on for the next four years.

May 26 Workshop: Housing

The council held a two-hour workshop on housing. City Administrator Bill Bellknap presented 48 minutes of market data, program history, and legislative updates. The council then discussed the housing authority question that has been on the table since 2024.

The supply problem

Moscow permits 30 to 40 new homes a year for a population of 26,700. Vacancy has stayed below 2% for as long as anyone can measure it. Home prices doubled in a decade: a three-bedroom house that sold for $230,000 in 2016 now carries a median sale price of $456,000. Not enough houses, too many buyers, prices rise.

The housing authority question

The Fair and Affordable Housing Commission spent most of 2025 pushing for a housing authority, an independent public body with powers to issue bonds, acquire property, and run housing projects. The council is not ready to commit. Bellknap said he wants to "understand where this priority ranks with all of our other needs" before dedicating staff time. Council President Drew Davis said a city-only scope is too narrow and the county should be involved. The question will be folded into the strategic plan update starting in late July.

What has actually worked: deregulation

The city's own track record over the past decade shows what moves the needle on supply. Moscow reduced lot sizes, cut setbacks, allowed twin homes and townhouses, permitted ADUs, and opened commercial zones to residential use. None of that cost the city anything. The 2026 legislature went further: smaller manufactured homes (HB 800), expanded ADU rights with no owner-occupancy requirement (SB 1354), and a new starter-home subdivision with lots as small as 1,500 square feet (SB 1352, deadline Feb 1, 2027). Every one of those changes removed a barrier between a builder and a buyer.

By the numbers

• Population: 26,721 (2025 est.). Growth: ~1%/year for 50 years.
• Total housing stock: ~11,000 units (48% multifamily, 45% single-family, 5% mobile).
• Median sale price: $456,000. Average rent: $1,400/month.
• Home-price-to-income ratio: 5.7x (national average: 3.6x).
• LIHTC affordable units: 255. Section 8 vouchers: 42% of affordable stock.
• Proposed HUD FY27 cuts: 13% total reduction, including proposed elimination of CDBG and HOME programs.

What the council agreed on

• All members to review the 2019 Partnership Housing Study and 2022 CEDA Housing Assessment.
• Submit written priorities to Drew Davis and Mayor Lewis within one week.
• Housing will be evaluated in the strategic plan update starting in ~60 days, ranked against police staffing, EMS, infrastructure, and jail closure impacts.
• Staff (PNZ) must begin code amendments for SB 1354 (ADUs), SB 1352 (starter homes), and HB 583 (short-term rentals).

Read the full meeting notes with speaker-attributed discussion, all seven legislative bills, regulatory timeline, and housing authority explainer. Download the full transcript (1,932 segments, 1 hr 55 min).

Based on audio recording transcribed with faster-whisper large-v3. Speaker attribution inferred from conversational context. All statistics from the city staff presentation.

Key Quotes: Housing Workshop

Key Quotes: March 23 Workshop

This page is based on the March 23, 2026 Moscow City Council Budget Workshop. Audio recorded and transcribed. All figures are from the city administration's presentation. This page will be updated after each meeting in the budget cycle.

Annual Property Tax Increase

The city council took the maximum 3-4% property tax increase in most years, with two zero-increase years (FY2010, FY2021). After FY2027, the foregone balance is gone.

Council-approved property tax levy increase each year. Idaho law caps the statutory increase at 3%; additional foregone balance may be recaptured.

Source: City of Moscow adopted budgets, FY2008-FY2026, property tax summary pages.

Cumulative Property Tax Increase

Property tax levies have more than doubled since FY2008 through annual compounding, growing over 116%. After FY2027, the only growth lever is 3% plus new construction.

Compounded total property tax levy increase since FY2008. Each year's approved increase builds on the prior year's base.

Calculated by compounding each year's approved increase. Source: City of Moscow adopted budgets, FY2008-FY2026.

Spending Per Employee

Budget per employee has doubled since FY2008. The FY2027 projection (red) uses 165 funded FTE, not 172 authorized, because 7 positions have been frozen since 2023.

Total adopted budget divided by full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. FY2027 uses 165 funded FTE (172 authorized minus 7 frozen since 2023).

FY2008-FY2026 from adopted budgets. FY2027 projected from March 23 workshop: $139.5M base + ~$335K new revenue, 165 funded FTE. Calculated, not an official city metric.