The next Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting will be held Thursday, May 1, 2025, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Bob Crowell Board Room of the Community Center located at 851 E. William St.
Carson City Budget
Supervisors will hear a presentation on the proposed 2026 Tentative Budget for the city, which according to Chief Financial Officer Sheri Russell-Benabou, has had very few changes from the assumptions discussed at the Feb. 20, 2025 meeting.
Municipalities across the Silver State have been scrambling due to a significant forecasted drop in projected sales tax revenues, which through the Consolidated Tax (CTAX), make up a large portion of their budgets, including Carson City.
The next forecasts comes on May 1, which are expected to fall below predictions used to create the state’s budget — though by how much isn’t known.
Forecasters are concerned over economic uncertainties coming from tariffs, the ongoing tax revenue deficits, and a decrease in tourism to Las Vegas — especially from visitors coming from Canada and Asia, which has been plummeting nationwide.
In December, a revenue of $12.4 billion was projected, but if that projection is further reduced, it will be the first time a mid-session decrease has occurred since 2009 during the Great Recession.
Carson City’s Budget Makeup
Public safety (25.4%), general government (23.9%), and judicial (2.8%) make up a little over half of the city’s total budget, with about half of all expenditures going to salaries (49.1%), and the rest going toward benefits (29.8%) and services and supplies (21.1%).
General fund revenues come from consolidated tax (CTAX) which is a percentage of the overall sales from items such as cigarettes, liquor and other specified purchases that make up the majority of most municipal funds throughout the state.
In Carson City, CTAX makes up around 40.9% of the city’s general fund budget, while property taxes account for around 31.7%.
Staff is budgeting a 0% increase for CTAX due to a 6% decrease in sales taxes for the first eight months of FY 2025.
Other revenues come from licenses and permits, charges for services, miscellaneous revenues, with around 0.3% at the tail end coming from fines and forfeitures.
Property taxes come from assessed valuations, which have been increasing steadily in recent years.
While total assessed valuation for all properties in Carson City in 2017 was around $1.4 billion, bringing in around $23 million, they’ve since skyrocketed. In 2025, assessed valuation is estimated at over $2.5 billion, with revenues expected around $35 million.
For 2026, valuation is expected to hit $2.6 billion, bringing in around $37 million for the city in taxes — a projected 5% increase amounting to around $1.74 million in additional revenue.
Projections
While the beginning fund balance between FY 2024’s actual budget and Carson City’s estimated FY 2025 budget had an increase of around $8.5 million, the FY 2026 projection is down 28.5% — a decrease of around $8.5 million.
However, 2026’s projection of $115 in general fund revenues is somewhat in line with the actual fund of 2024 at $113.9 million — though revenues for 2025 are estimated at only $112.3 million.
Overall, it brings Carson City’s 2025 estimated general funds at around $142.7 million, with FY 2026’s projection at $137 million, which is a reduction of about 4% or $5.7 million.
Added to the projected beginning fund balance of $21.5 million, this brings the total funding sources to around $137 million for 2026.
Total expenditures are projected at around $117.7 million, leaving an ending fund balance of $19.27 million in the city’s reserves.
Ongoing and Upcoming Projects
For the 2026 budget cycle, the city will continue to fund its capital improvement projects (CIP) based on city priorities according to Carson City Manager Nancy Paulson.
Approximately $5.4 million will be transferred from the general fund to the CIP fund, and $940,360 from the general fund to the extraordinary maintenance fund.
During FY 2025, the city transferred around $7.45 million to the CIP fund from the general fund from excess revenue to be used for capital projects slated for 2026.
Around $4.3 million will be set aside from landfill revenues for ongoing landfill capital improvements, and $940,360 in maintenance for city-wide facility needs.
The remaining $8.6 million from the two transfers will be set aside for various capital or one-time non capital projects including:
- $350 in IT storage replacements,
- $1.7 in computer aided dispatch system replacement,
- $2.5 million in facility improvements, roofing, HVAC and asphalt replacement,
- $1.6 million in park improvements,
- $1.8 million for city vehicles; and,
- various equipment, infrastructure and professional services projects
The city currently has around $24 million in deferred maintenance costs for city facilities, which has increased by around $3.2 million since 2024 due to increases in replacement costs and limited funding.
In 2026, the city will only be able to fund around $2.86 million of the $6.38 million in current maintenance costs, resulting in another increase in the balance of deferred maintenance.
However, space needs will be an ongoing topic. In 2022, the city identified several space needs in which departments were outgrowing (or had already outgrown) their spaces.
A needs assessment was completed in 2024 for the Juvenile Facility, and the design phase will begin at the end of FY 2025.
Carson City’s population has been forecasted to reach over 60,000 by 2026, which means an additional Justice of the Peace will need to be elected, and the city will need to remodel the courthouse to add an additional court room. The design phase will begin at the end of FY 2025.
The new Fire Station/Emergency Operation Center/Backup Dispatch Station (EOC) broke ground in 2024, and is estimated to be completed in the summer of 2025.
The Carson City IT department will be moving to the new EOC from City Hall, which will alleviate almost all of the spacing constraints within that building.
This summer, the city will break ground on the William Street Corridor Project, which will replace aging utilities and provide roadway improvements on 1.5 miles of E. William Street.
You can read the explanation letter here, or view the presentation below:
East William Complete Streets
A number of items to be discussed are related to the ongoing East William Complete Streets project. Designs began in May 2022 and seek to transform the previous highway corridor in the same manner of the Downtown Carson City and the South Carson Corridor projects.
After completing the freeway, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) transferred ownership of East William Street to Carson City. While traffic has decreased since the completion of the freeway, crashes have increased, and there are few protections for pedestrians and bicyclists.
“Carson City planners and engineers are working to transform the corridor from a high-speed vehicle thoroughfare to a destination roadway shared by all users, including drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, otherwise known as a Complete Street,” Carson City staff said during a 2023 project update.
Starting in February, contractor bids were opened for various contracts to get the ball rolling on the Complete Street project.
Supervisors will vote on contract awards to M4 Engineering LLC for a total amount not to exceed $2.9 million for undergrounding overhead utilities, and to Lumos & Associations Inc. to provide construction material testing services for the project in an amount not to exceed $165,985.
In addition, a revision of an easement template with Smith’s Food & Drug will be discussed regarding Smith’s proposed revisions relating to an easement for a dedicated right-hand turn lane onto their property. Supervisors are asked to authorize a total amount not to exceed $25,825 for all easements needed on the property for the project.
Finally, a contract with Granite Construction Company will be heard for a total amount not to exceed $22.49 million including an 8% contingency for complete street improvements on E. William between N. Carson Street and the freeway including pavement reconstruction and preservation, utility replacement, safety enhancements, and multi-modal transportation infrastructure. $9.3 million is being provided by the RAISE grant, awarded in 2022.
Have a comment? Send it to publiccomment@carson.org to be included in the minutes, you must include your full name and send it in by 3 p.m. the day before the meeting.
Interested in watching virtually? You can watch at www.carson.org/granicus, by tuning into cable channel 191, or via YouTube. We will also update this story with the stream via YouTube when it becomes available for easy viewing.
View the full agenda below.
