Just An Average Citizen

09/01/2026

08/28/2026

I guess it’s never been more clear to me than this budget workshop that they are all taking as much money from the citizen that the law allows. They’re not worried about how much it cost you. They’re not worried about being mindful of how they spend taxpayer money. They just want as much as they can get without having to go to the voters to ask for it. When you realize this piece of information, then you can understand why they have been taking more money from you every year and then trying to pull it off as if this rate is lower than any other rate in 10 years. We know that when they are using the rate to compare compared to other years, we know that they’re distracting you from what they’re really doing. Ironically, the lowest rate still means you’re paying higher taxes.

Once you understand what they’re doing then it helps you to formulate the conversations that need to be had with them. I’m super disappointed that they see no need to lower the amount of taxes citizens pay and instead we find ways to spend money in order to keep taking more and more money from us

08/27/2026

You are making a difference. Your voice matters.

08/26/2026

I hope this is helping break some of the complexity of this down so you can understand and engage better in what is happening in local government! It requires us to participate! I am see some postive changes happening because the conversations we are having! Keep up the good work! We can accomplish so much more when we are working together!

08/24/2026

Heads up! Your costs are increasing!

Edited: Water maybe earlier. Wouldn’t be nice if this was published somewhere for citizens to be able to keep up with these dates?

Easiest way to prepare you for what fees and changes are proposed to be coming staring on your January 2027 Utility Bill.

Please share this yo help spread the were to prepare citizens for the increase.

08/22/2026

 Update to the FY 2027 Proposed Budget. I guess I missed that notification. Ha. Important info to know before Monday’s budget workshop meeting.

08/21/2026

Still trying to get the word out. Feels like a big disconnect from what is happening and what we can do.

08/19/2026

This one is important to understand!

This one is a small win that I will take. Please share to help get the word out! We all need to learn this skill of paying attention to what happens at the local level. The more working on making time for this the better our community will be!

I heard about the underfunded pension back in 2023. But sadly, I had no grid as to how to bring solutions to the problem. In September of 2025, I brought it to the council's attention because it was discussed back in January, February, and March of that year with no more information given. I first began to understand it at the Budget Retreat in January and was shocked that we had allowed the fund to get to over $70 million all under the mayor's watch But the city had no issue asking you to take out more debt to fund the airport. at the same time It was baffling. The city had no need to address this topic because the public had not being paying attention.

Unfortunately, once I started attending the Firemen's Relief and Retirement Board meetings (in February 2025) to figure out what a citizen could do to help, the city "created" a subcommittee where no public was allowed. It was no longer something I could keep track of. So imagine my shock when the first time it was mentioned in over a year was when a councilman brought up the underfunded account to scold the firemen as he rejected the contract the city manager and firemen agreed to in March 2026.

This $13 million sounds like a lot, but with almost $60 million more to go, it is a placeholder. It seems keeping the state satisfied so the local control is not lost is more important than fixing the problem. They call this "kicking the can". So many things get "kicked' and we are the ones who get our taxes raised every year to keep things hanging on.

This is not how it should be managed. Only by contacting your city council can we start to have honest conversations about what we can change to get out of this broken system. Have you reached out yet?

Did you know our firefighters had to deal with this at the same time the council rejected their contract at the last minute? Talk about a mess. This is why there is two ballot measures on the November ballot creating a better structure to prevent the council from waiting until the last minute to play dirty.

08/18/2026

This is great! A budget workshop at night AND letting the citizens know they are welcome to attend!

I love going to smaller cities’ council nettings. There is just a relational component larger cities have forgotten how to do.

I was at one last night where the proposed tax rate was the No New Revenue rate. Not only did they mention it, but they proposed to make the budget operate at it. Colored me shocked!

Budget Workshop #4!!