By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
He's "not sounding the panic alarm," but Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty cautioned city commissioners Thursday the 2026 preliminary budget "will be about maintenance" and "will not expand in scope."
Assessed valuation for the city is up 2.5% from 2025, according to figures from Ellis County.
Sales tax is the primary source of revenue for the city, and the local economy is heavily reliant on consumer spending.
"The budget is based overall on a slightly cautionary approach," Dougherty said. "When you look at inflation, we're barely keeping pace. I could argue we're falling behind."
Budget planning and analysis are overseen by Collin Bielser, deputy city manager, and Kim Rupp, finance director, with input from department heads. The budget plan for 2026 covers the next 18 to 20 months.
"Federal grant programs are drying up or being discontinued, so some of the federal monies we use to subsidize locally are drying up," Dougherty said.
Other factors in next year's budget include increasing import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which affect consumers.
Retaliatory tariffs are hitting the agriculture industry, which is also important to Hays and Ellis County.
The cost of purchasing vehicles has increased dramatically.
There is talk among some in the financial industry about the increased possibility of a national recession within the next 12 months.
In a recession, people spend less money and drive less, which would affect Hays along with the Ellis County oil economy.
Dougherty said the city is "in extremely good financial shape, and the proposed budget you'll see July third maintains everything — staffing levels, programs, operations."
The draft budget will continue to fund reserves and give a cost-of-living and step pay increases to city employees.
"We're making sure we're taking care of things we have and not expanding, then maybe having to cut those in the future," he said.
"It's not reactionary. It's a realistic budget, in my opinion," said Sandy Jacobs, mayor. "This team works really, really hard on these budgets."
Vice-Mayor Mason Ruder complimented staff for "always requesting what they need to get the job done and do it right, and no more. They're always looking into the future, which I appreciate."
"I think we've been really aggressive the past few years," said Shaun Musil, commissioner, "and if there's a year we have to pause or maintain, I think this is probably the year to do that. "