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Current Events
- If you or people in your area want to meet and discuss current/future topics related to the city, reach out to me to set up a time to visit. (email, phone call, or in person)
- As you're driving on the river road by Stephens' park, you'll notice construction on the south side of the road. That's the new central water system treatment facility in progress.
- Many of you are familiar with the phrase "rural look and feel" or "rural character." Dayton residents have said this is important to them and I agree. It's even in our mission statement. We've had a couple work sessions on the topic and I believe it'll result in a list of ideas we will be prioritizing for the future. If you have ideas, please let me know.
- Our Economic Development Authority (EDA) commission has an opening.
- Our Planning commission has an opening.
- Our Park commission has 2 openings.
- If you are interested in any of these, contact me or the city for more information on what’s involved and how to apply.
Work Session (Budget Discussion)
This was a continuation of the 2026 budget.
The budget is the most important item the council decides every year. It drives the services your city provides you and drives the CITY’S portion of your property taxes. Here are some basics regarding the property tax you pay...
- Your property tax consists of roughly 3 components; county, school, and city taxes. The city portion (the levy) is set by the city council. That’s the number you should focus on with regards to your city council.
- The city portion of your property tax depends on 2 numbers; The tax rate and the property value (the county sets).
- The tax rate is basically the “tax levy” (amount the city wants to spend) divided by the “tax capacity” which is calculated by the county and is proportional to the sum of the property values in the city. So, Tax Rate = Levy / Capacity. As a side point, you'll hear city leaders claim they're not responsible for the check you write to the city since they don't set your property value. They seem to forget THEY set the rate.
- The capacity is made up of 2 numbers; Property value increases and development. For 2026 we’ve been told by the county the capacity increase is 8.1%. The development portion of that was 6.3%. A spending increase above 6.3% means your check to the city will be larger. Spending more than 8.1% means not only will your city tax go up but so will the tax rate.
Most of this item was a presentation by staff on what they want to spend. And it was a whopper. Staff wants a 19% increase.
Our population went up about 6% last year.
For details on where they want to spend it, feel free to watch the presentation.
Item L (Public Works Fire Suppression Tanks)
Since there is no city water where the public works building is located, they have to store water for the sprinkler systems. The storage was put in around 2017 and both are leaking. Yay for sucky workmanship. The price to repair them came in at $70k. That passed 4-0.
Item M (Personnel Policy)
Staff felt that the city's personnel policy needed updates in 2 areas; personal leave and drug testing. The personal leave section was updated to have the employee turn in any city equipment before their leave. That didn't get much attention. The drug testing policy got a lot. The addition was to not allow any THC detection at all for police or the fire department. Unfortunately, with the change to the marijuana laws, there hasn't been any corresponding quantifiable way to measure impairment. A couple of us were uncomfortable with not allowing any THC for the fire fighters at any time, unlike alcohol. The decision when to drug test also received a lot of scrutiny. The item was tabled until the next meeting when we should have the attorney there and all 5 of the council.
Item N (Outsource HR)
City staff has reached a point where there is a need for more HR skills. This item was to hire a firm to do the HR work given it hasn't reached a point where we need a full time hire to do it. It was approved 4-0.
Feel free to contact me with questions or comments.