Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the General Fund Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Quincy presents $54.8 million proposed general fund budget; uses fund balance and gaming revenue for pensions
Summary
City staff presented a proposed $54,800,000 general fund expense budget and said an estimated $3.46 million in video-gaming receipts and an accumulated fund balance would be used to cover most pension costs for fiscal 2026.
Staff member Sherry opened the council's budget review with an overview of the general fund and a fiscal-26 expense proposal of $54,800,000, saying the document "is where the majority of all of our tax revenue goes." She told aldermen the packet contains a revenue forecast and a departmental breakdown and asked department heads to reference page numbers when they present.
Sherry said the city reduced its PPRT projection by $2,900,000 in the revised figures and described how the budget balances economic forecasts against expenditures. "When you match those revenue projections to the expense projections... we hope to never operate in a deficit and... generate maybe a surplus or at least break even," she said.
The memo to council said the city plans to use restricted resources to cover most of next year's pension obligations. "We have passed an ordinance or a resolution that commits video gaming revenues towards pension costs," Sherry said, and she reported those restricted gaming receipts plus amounts collected during the 2024 tax levy total $3,460,000. Sherry also told the council the city currently carries about a $6,000,000 accumulated surplus in fund balance and that, legally, the city could pass a budget using that balance but is opting for a conservative approach to align recurring spending with recurring revenues.
Sherry described key transfers and subsidies that the general fund pays: a planned $6,300,000 transfer to capital projects (about half of the home-rule purchase tax), a general-fund subsidy for curbside garbage of $463,000 to keep user rates low, monthly transfers covering 60% of Quincy's 9-1-1 costs under a county agreement and subsidies for the library and cemetery. She also noted the Cullinan sales-tax rebate to the mall remains in effect under a 20-year agreement, and said she would provide the council the contract end date when she looks it up.
Sherry closed by saying the council will review special-revenue, capital and enterprise funds in the next meeting and invited aldermen to propose amendments.
Ending
Council members did not take formal votes during this general-fund overview; staff signaled the next agenda will cover special revenue and capital-project funds and encouraged aldermen to submit amendment requests before final readings.
