The Marshfield Common Council meets on Tuesday, Oct. 27, opening with a 2027 budget session at 5 p.m. and moving into its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m., or once the budget session ends.
City Administrator Steve Barg said the council has finished its first look at the general fund and will now work through the rest of the budget, including debt, room tax revenue and capital projects. Another budget meeting is set for Thursday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m., and officials hope it will wrap up deliberations before the proposed budget is published.
The regular agenda includes a request to extend the city's exclusive negotiating agreement with the developer behind a proposed downtown housing project. The current agreement expires Nov. 30, and the requested extension would run into early May 2027 to allow more time for tax credit applications and arrangements for control of the property.
The developer is pursuing affordable housing and historic tax credits to help finance the project. A future development agreement would set terms such as the purchase price, the number of housing units and the project's taxable value, and parking remains part of the ongoing talks between the city and the developer.
Council members will also take up employee benefits for 2027, including health, dental and vision coverage, with premiums expected to rise. Proposed city contributions to employee health savings accounts are $500 for single coverage and $1,000 for family coverage.
Another item asks whether council meetings should be streamed live on Facebook. Two council members requested the discussion, and earlier consideration raised questions about live comments, records retention and whether online comments could be mistaken for formal participation. Barg said he did not expect a final decision Tuesday, though council action is possible.
