The Philomath City Council unanimously adopted a $35.2 million budget for fiscal year 2025-26 on Monday evening.
The budget, which takes effect July 1, allocates $27.47 million in direct appropriations across various city departments and services with the remainder designated for unappropriated fund balances and reserves.
Police services received the largest allocation within the General Fund at $2.16 million. City administration will receive nearly $2 million, while parks operations are budgeted at $259,130.
The most significant portion of the budget — over $15 million — is dedicated to capital improvements through the Land, Building and Equipment Fund. The fund represents the city’s infrastructure investment to address aging facilities and prepare for future growth.
Water and wastewater operations will receive $1.34 million and $1.07 million, respectively. The city’s storm drain operations are budgeted at $76,172.
Street operations received $840,081 in funding with additional allocations for equipment needs. The city also set aside funds for ongoing community development initiatives and economic development programs.
The budget includes contingency funds across all departments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unappropriated fund balances totaling $7.7 million provide additional financial security.
Development review services, funded through fees, received $152,000 to handle the city’s ongoing growth in residential and commercial construction.
There were no comments during the public hearing. The budget was adopted on a 6-0 vote (Rich Saalsaa absent) with no discussion.
The complete budget document is available for public review at City Hall during regular business hours.
The new budget takes effect July 1 and will guide city operations through June 30, 2026.
The council approved a resolution to impose and categorize a tax rate of $5.3005 per thousand dollars of assessed value. On a $350,000 home, the owner would pay $1,855.18 — which represents only the city portion of the property tax bill and does not include other taxing districts (school district, for example).
In addition to the budget, the council also unanimously adopted a resolution to receive various types of shared revenue. Estimated amounts going into the city’s general fund includes $89,740 from the state’s liquor tax, $3,330 from the cigarette tax, $8,466 from the marijuana tax and $57,434 in general shared revenues. The city also will receive an estimated $458,575 from the state’s highway gas tax revenue, which goes into a fund for streets, bike paths and trails.