Special Reno City Council Meeting - Budget Workshop
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Note: This summary is based on published meeting minutes.
What Happened
The Reno City Council held a special budget workshop on March 4, 2026, to discuss the 2026-27 budget and related items. The meeting lasted about three hours and covered two major unresolved issues.
Key Decisions
APPROVED — Meeting agenda — 6-0 — Council proceeded with budget workshop discussions.
Debated But Not Resolved
Waste Management franchise fee increases — Council members disagreed on whether to automatically raise the franchise fee based on inflation (CPI). Council Member Duerr suggested voting to remove automatic increases. Vice Mayor Martinez said a majority of council wants to eliminate CPI increases. Finance Director Van Buren said the council could either vote to remove CPI during budget approval or review the agreement yearly. Next step: City Manager will flag this for discussion when the budget is presented for final adoption in May.
Appeal fee rollback — Council Members Duerr and Ebert said appeal fees need to be rolled back, but no resolution was reached. Next step: Unknown.
What to Watch
None over $50,000 were approved at this meeting.
Waste Management CPI decision (May) — Council will decide whether to remove automatic cost-of-living increases from the Waste Management franchise fee. This affects how much residents pay for trash service.
2026-27 Budget adoption (May 6) — The full budget, fee schedule, and strategic priorities will come back for final approval. Council asked staff to discuss which projects should continue before that vote.
Appeal fee rollback — Council will need to vote on rolling back appeal fees, but the timing is unclear.
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