City of Commerce proposes $16.2 million fiscal 2026 budget, recommends 83¢ property tax rate

A city staff member speaking on the Commerce Connect podcast said the City of Commerce’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget totals $16,224,760.56 and that the city is proposing a property tax rate of 83¢ per $100 valuation to help fund the plan.

The staff member said the budget covers the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2025, and runs through September 2026 and that the city scheduled public hearings and council meetings in September to review the proposal. "We are a service organization," the staff member said, adding: "Every dollar we spend is somebody else's dollar."

The nut graf: The proposal distributes spending across public safety, infrastructure, quality-of-life programs and administrative support; the city framed the plan as an effort to maintain core services while spreading costs across taxes and fees. Officials said roughly 35% of general-fund revenue is expected from taxes, with property tax the largest single source.

At the top of the budget, public safety is proposed to account for 29.3% of total expenditures, or $4,748,916. The staff member broke…