Holton commission hears budget requests for FY25

It’s budget time again for the City of Holton, and on Monday evening, the heads of the city’s infrastructure departments presented their budget requests for fiscal year 2026 to the Holton City Commission, most department heads asking for minor budget increases to keep their departments running smoothly.

Holton City Manager Teresa Riley reminded commissioners that the department heads’ proposed budgets for fiscal year 2026 were preliminary numbers that would be given to city auditor Mike Peroo, who will put together a full budget for the city and present it to commissioners in the near future.

According to documents shared with the commission, requests for the proposed 2026 budget totaled $14,840,297, up $824,453 (5.9 percent) from the 2025 budget of $14,015,844 and up more than $2.2 million (17.6 percent) from the 2024 actual expenditures of $12,615,953.56. The 2025 and 2026 totals at this point represent budget authority and not amounts that the departments necessarily spend.

Riley reminded commissioners that the budgeting process must be completed before July 20 to determine whether the city is going to exceed its revenue neutral rate as set by the Jackson County Clerk, adding that the city is not presently planning to exceed its revenue neutral rate, which has yet to be determined. Peroo’s budget would determine whether the city would have to make cuts to avoid exceeding that rate, she added.

First up was Holton Police Chief Steve Frederick, who requested a 2026 budget of $1,211,041, up $47,596 from the 2025 budget of $1,163,445.

Frederick, who noted that “the cost of technology is eating away at our budget more every year,” said his department is looking at replacing a server computer due to a software company that serves the department hiking its proprietary service fees from little more than $600 annually to $10,000 over a three-year contract period. 

Riley said the fire department’s budget was “slightly less than last year,” with a proposed 2026 budget of $87,527, down $237 from the 2025 budget of $87,764. She added that the fire department may need to look at replacing some equipment “before too long.”

Street superintendent Greg Tanking presented a 2026 budget request of $501,705 for the street department, down $10,875 from its $512,580 budget for 2025. How closely the street department’s budget would stick to that 2026 estimate, Tanking said, would depend on the price of oil used for street maintenance projects.

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