Committee reviews balanced FY26 general fund, heavy public-safety spending in proposed budget

Lee's Summit Finance & Budget Committee members heard the city manager's proposed fiscal year 2026 general fund and public safety sales tax budgets on April 21, including a balanced general fund that exceeds $100 million and a public safety allocation that represents the largest share of spending.

Mark Dunning, city manager, told the committee the proposed general fund budget is balanced to the dollar and reflects the council's priorities. "In my mind, this is the biggest annual plan slash policy that we, being staff and yourselves, as elected officials, put in place for this community," Dunning said. He framed the budget around the city strategic plan, workforce investments and several large capital and operational projects.

Why it matters: the proposed plan directs a majority of general fund resources toward public safety and infrastructure while advancing multi-year projects and an enterprise resource planning transition. Because the general fund is the city's most flexible revenue source, council decisions here affect staffing, service levels and visible projects in the community.

The committee heard these principal details:

- Scale and composition: Dunning said this is the first time the city's general fund has exceeded $100,000,000 in revenues and expenditures. He reported roughly 55% of the general fund would be dedicated to public safety (about…