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City manager recommends nearly $1.3 billion operating budget, cites $56 million trust disbursement
Summary
City Manager Cheryl Long’s recommended biennial budget for fiscal 2026 emphasizes public safety, fiscal sustainability and leveraged support while closing an estimated $10 million gap through revenue upticks and spending cuts; the package includes a first-year $56 million trust disbursement restricted to city infrastructure.
The city manager’s recommended biennial operating budget for fiscal year 2026 totals just under $1.3 billion, city budget staff said during a public hearing that opened the final community comment period on the proposal.
Dr. Dudas, presenting for the city’s budget office, told the Budget & Finance Committee the recommended budget keeps five strategic priorities unchanged: public safety and health, growing economic opportunities, thriving neighborhoods, fiscal sustainability and excellent and equitable service delivery.
The recommendation matters because it sets spending priorities for the coming two-year cycle and gives council the draft they will amend before the legal June 30 deadline. Dr. Dudas said the package balances a roughly $10 million deficit that existed between the tentative tax budget in January and this recommended version through a mix of higher-than-expected revenue and expenditure reductions.
Most immediately, the recommendation counts on increased revenue from multiple lines. Dr. Dudas said the city expects a “significant increase in interest revenue” and upgrades to admission tax, short-term rental excise tax and building and permit fees based on current trends. He also cited an anticipated $500,000 increase in commercial solid-waste hauler fee revenue and a similar $500,000 increase in income tax receipts.
On the expenditure side, the presentation listed vacancy savings from keeping some vacant positions unfilled, “a little over $2,000,000 of non-personnel reductions,” reductions to fire overtime tied to departmental strategies implemented in 2025, and reductions to outside organization funding plus smaller office budgets for the mayor, clerk and council members.
The budget also includes several targeted increases. Dr. Dudas said about $1.5 million net (after reimbursements) is available for staffing expansions that include an expansion of the vacant-building registration program, continuation of a building-inspector training academy, a police “understudy” program to bridge the gap between cadet status and eligibility for a recruit class, and resources for a private parking-lot and garage licensing program. Department of Public Services received additions for leadership and management training, technology investments aimed at winter operations and additional preventative pavement maintenance.
Public-safety staffing is a central element of the proposal: Dr. Dudas said the Cincinnati Police Department is budgeted for three 50-member recruit classes across the biennium and the fire department for two 50-member recruit classes. A fire recruit class originally scheduled for January 2026 was advanced to start in October of the current year.
On long‑term fiscal items, the recommended budget increases the employer pension contribution rate by 0.75 percentage points to 18.5 percent for fiscal 2026, and assumes a 5 percent increase in calendar‑year 2026 health‑care premiums.
The general fund revenue figure presented was $569.5 million, with the earnings tax representing nearly two‑thirds of that total; police and fire represent the two largest departmental shares of the general fund budget, at roughly 33 percent and 28 percent respectively. Dr. Dudas said the all‑funds general capital budget totals about $129 million, while utility capital (primarily MSD and waterworks) represents the largest share of all‑funds capital spending.
Dr. Dudas also described a new resource for the general capital budget: a first‑year trust disbursement tied to the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway, which he said provides $56 million that “can only be used on existing city infrastructure projects.”
On leveraged and competitive grant programs, the presenter said the city manager’s recommended budget reduces the previously recommended leverage support slightly (a 2 percent reduction from the prior recommendation) and shifts some categories—homelessness and eviction prevention, human services and violence prevention, and workforce programming and poverty reduction—to be managed by the Human Services Advisory Board. The application portal for program funding opened Feb. 17 and closed March 26. Seventy‑six organizations applied; Dr. Dudas said roughly $1.6 million was recommended to 22 organizations through the application process.
Committee members were given a schedule for council review and amendment. The committee chair asked council members to submit motions proposing adjustments to the clerk by Friday, June 6; the committee will reconvene on June 9 to consider changes, with an expected final vote on the biennial budget later in June.
Ending: The presentation concludes the administration’s public briefing; council members and community groups will use the next weeks of committee and council meetings to propose and debate amendments before the statutory budget deadline.
