Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget

One of the wonderful parts of living in Sunset Valley has been that the taxes collected are actually used to help the residents. I could understand raising rates if the City had a shortfall, but given the amount of money collected and spent on all sorts of projects, I can't understand why the City wants to increase our rates again. Please leave the rates alone or consider reducing them. Also, given the massive support for keeping the subsidies, it seems the democratic thing to do to leave them alone! (I also don't understand why we pay more based on usage. If one household has 5 people and another has 1 person, why are the 4 additional people paying a higher rate for water? It should be a flat rate.)

I am writing to voice my opposition to the proposed cut to the Sunset Valley utility subsidies and the proposed utility rate structure. Even if it were financially necessary to cut these subsidies, the flat increase of $0.50 per gallon across all volumetric tiers places a proportionally larger burden on households that use less water than those that use more. The proposed FY2026 rate per gallon for Tier 1 (0-9,999 gallons) is 13.1% higher than the FY2025 rate. The proposed FY26 rate for the highest tier (25,000 + gallons) is only 3.4% higher than the FY25 rate.

Our sincere thank you to the budget and finance committee members and staff for outlining the FY26 budget. While the economy is good for now to support sales tax income from Brodie businesses, should the council undertake a funded project to evaluate alternative revenue sources (economic development-linked revenue) for the city. For example, an urban planning/municipal finance consulting service to support the budget and finance committee effort for FY27-FY28 budgets? Also, I would urge the council to maintain the utilities subsidies at the FY25-level and not reduce it.

Sincerely,
Ravi Srinivasan

The existing utility subsidy is a valuable program from which all Sunset Valley residents benefit. Unless there is a substantial budgetary risk to the City, which I don't see from review of the proposed budget document, then I oppose modifications/ reducing the existing utility subsidy.

Thanks for providing this opportunity for the residents of SSValley to voice their opinion on this and other topics. From my review of other public comments, there appears to be unanimous support for retaining the existing/current subsidy.

Jurgen Koch

I do not approve of increase cost to utilities.

Thank you,
Kim Foxhoven

Hello, I’ve lived in our great city Sunset Valley for the past two decades. One of the reasons why my family and I liked the city is its ability to serve its residents through its subsidies. I would like the city to increase the water and trash subsidies and highly oppose any more decrease of them. Thank you!

I saw no indication in the FY 2026 budget of any fiscal burden or exigency that would justify reduction of utility subsidies. I am unsure of the motivations behind these attempted reductions - in defiance of Budget and Finance Committee recommendations. I strongly oppose any reduction of utility subsidies, and I am very curious why this is being proposed.

I echo the concerns and comments posted regarding the opposition of reducing the utility subsidies.
The utility subsidy should remain in tact for all SSV residents.

Like many others, I oppose the reduction of the utility subsidies. In addition to the other concerns about utilities benefiting a larger group of people, utilities are a basic need. Reducing the utility subsidy negatively effects the lower income households in our city at the expense of providing activities, that while they are nice to have, are not necessary for everyday life.

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed reduction of water utility subsidies for the residents of Sunset Valley.

Since incorporation, Sunset Valley has distinguished itself as a unique and welcoming community. A major part of what makes our city hospitable is the way its leadership has chosen to use strong sales tax revenues to directly benefit residents. The water subsidy has been an essential part of this, ensuring that the basic cost of living remains manageable and that our community is a place where people truly want to live and stay.

The current effort to remove these subsidies undermines this tradition. By increasing water costs, the Council is directly raising household expenses for every resident in Sunset Valley, while reallocating funds toward projects and activities that serve a far smaller portion of our population. In effect, this shifts resources away from the broad public good and toward niche initiatives that do not reflect the will or needs of the majority of residents.

It is also worth noting that the Budget and Finance Committee, which serves to provide sound fiscal guidance, has explicitly voted against removing these subsidies. Ignoring their recommendation diminishes the value of resident-led oversight and raises concerns about whether decisions are being made in alignment with the city’s purpose: to serve its people.

The Council’s role should be to protect the quality of life of all who call Sunset Valley home. Preserving the water utility subsidies ensures fairness, affordability, and a shared prosperity that reflects the spirit of our community. I urge you to reconsider the path of reducing subsidies and instead uphold policies that place residents at the center of city governance.

Thank you for your service and for considering the perspectives of those you represent.

I am concerned about the continued efforts to reduce the utility subsidies that benefit a large number of residents in order to redirect funds to projects and activities that only benefit a small subset of residents. Has the finance committee and city council considered this changing allocation of the benefits of living in the city from that perspective? The power of the utility subsidy (with a proper formula to ensure it only applies to base level use) is that so many of our residents have been able to directly reap the tax related benefits of living in Sunset Valley. As the city continues to move towards taking that away from its residents, it would be good to know who stands to get that money and how they plan to use it. How small is the group that will benefit from this reallocation?

We love living in Sunset Valley and have greatly appreciated subsidizing our utility bills. We spend a great amount on community programs that many people, including my family don't always benefit from. Subsidizing power bills is something we all benefit from. We are in favor of not increasing them again this year. Thank you.