Fort Morgan staff propose flat 2027 budget as city plans for Cargill-related pressure

Fort Morgan staff presented a preliminary 2027 general-fund budget framework Tuesday that would keep spending level with 2026 while asking departments to find about 5% in savings during the remaining months of this year. The city is also planning for roughly $3 million in Cargill-related losses if the plant stoppage continues.

The City Council did not introduce or adopt the 2027 budget at the Sept. 15 meeting. The approved budget calendar schedules additional fund and fee discussions for Oct. 20, formal budget presentations for Nov. 3 and second and final reading for Nov. 17.

The 5% request applies to the remaining 2026 budget months, not to an additional reduction in the proposed 2027 budget. Staff said the savings would help the city plan around the anticipated Cargill-related losses while the proposed 2027 budget starts with no net change from 2026.

The framework assumes a 3% increase in sales-tax revenue over the amount expected in 2026. It also projects lower cable franchise-tax revenue after Allo ended cable service, eliminates sewer in-lieu-of-tax revenue while the sewer fund carries debt, sharply reduces the severance-tax estimate and assumes no grant revenue for 2027 at this stage.

The proposal adds animal-shelter fee and donation lines based on the city’s operation of the shelter. It removes pool-concession revenue because the city plans to seek an outside operator. Staff said some grants received in prior years and in 2026 were not expected to recur.

The plan includes a new fixed-base airport operator contract costing just under $168,000. Other airport changes involve utilities, fuel and oil, runway lighting, training and airport advisory-board meals.

Several departmental changes are framed as reductions or one-time savings rather than broad service eliminations. The proposed budget removes an unfilled building-inspection position, reduces police part-time staffing and adds animal-shelter staff within the police budget. It also removes nearly $24,000 budgeted in 2026 for a canine the city has since purchased and includes software savings tied to the computer-aided dispatch system.

The fire department’s budget is slightly below the prior year’s level, primarily because of lower projected part-time hours rather than the elimination of firefighter positions. Fire officials also anticipate higher fire-call reimbursements and fuel costs, lower warning-system maintenance costs after equipment replacement, additional firefighter medical screening and increased use of the department’s burn building. The streets budget is essentially unchanged.

The roughly $3 million Cargill-related figure is lower than an earlier worst-case estimate. The Fort Morgan Times reported in July that the city manager had estimated a potential $15 million revenue loss if the plant remained closed. A Sept. 1 city financial update said the city had lost a little more than $2 million in revenue through July and projected a shortfall of about $3 million if the stoppage continued.

Staff used the roughly $3 million projection as a current planning assumption at the Sept. 15 meeting. The 2027 budget remains subject to further discussions and council action.