The Sedalia City Council received a preview of the city’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026 during a lengthy presentation at their meeting Wednesday, Feb. 19.

Interim City Administrator Matthew Wirt walked through how city staff is identifying objectives, priorities, and strategies for optimizing the city’s over $35 million budget. Wirt also provided an overview of the city’s recent survey of the pavement condition for Sedalia’s just over 150 miles of streets.

The survey found that just shy of ten percent of Sedalia’s streets were in very poor or serious shape, while another 12 percent was rated poor. A slideshow of ranked priorities presented at Wednesday’s meeting showed a potential budget line of $1 million for resurfacing projects, with $1.9 million worth of projects identified and ranked during a January work session.

Later in his presentation, Wirt noted how nearly three-fourths of the city’s budget is dedicated to city personnel, their salaries and benefits. Wirt noted that the budget would continue the new practice of pay raises being a combination of cost of living adjustments and performance-based.

Wirt’s presentation was in preparation for a second work session on the budget that will take place Monday night at City Hall. The council will need to approve the budget in March, as the new fiscal year begins April 1.