Norman council adopts FYE 2026 budget with amendments for transit, solar and water reclamation

The Norman City Council unanimously approved the fiscal year ending (FYE) 2026 operating and capital budgets, including the Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau detailed annual plan of work, at a June 10 special meeting. Council members approved a package of line‑item amendments that added money for social services, arts and historic institutions, solar energy projects, water reclamation facility renovations and expanded on‑demand transit services.

Why this matters: The adopted budget sets city spending priorities and carries implications for service levels if sales tax revenues fall short. Council members and finance staff told the public the city remains dependent on sales tax revenue and faces pressure from rising costs such as health care claims.

The adopted amendments included a $25,000 increase to general‑fund allocations for social and voluntary services (moved by Council Member Montoya), an $11,200 increase to parks and recreation allocations for contributions to the historical museum and the performing arts studio/depot (moved by Council Member Peacock), and a $200,000 increase in the sanitation fund to pay for solar arrays at the transfer station (moved by Council Member Grant). Council approved a $125,000 increase in the water fund and a $125,000 increase in the water reclamation fund to pay for solar arrays at the line maintenance facility (moved by Council Member Nash), and a $3,800,000 increase in the water reclamation fund for renovations to the water reclamation administrative and storage buildings (moved by Council Member Hinkle).

Council also approved an increase of $90,849.55 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) fund revenue and appropriations to reflect an updated FYE 2026 award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (moved by Council Member Dixon).

On transit, Council approved increasing transit and parking fund allocations by $665,000 to fund on‑demand transit services. The amendment included revenue offsets: a contribution from the University of Oklahoma and additional federal grant revenue. Taylor, a city transit staff member, summarized the transit program and funding sources for the council, saying the combined fixed‑route and paratransit program is about $4.6 million and that the total transit budget including Norman On Demand is roughly $6 million. Taylor said, "we get about $2,900,000 from FTA grants" and that roughly half of the remaining funding comes from a 1/8‑cent sales tax approved by Norman voters in November 2019.

Taylor provided ridership figures as context for the on‑demand request: "we showed about 420,000 riders on our fixed route and paratransit system" for the most recent period and said Norman On Demand had substantially higher use compared with its first year, reflecting growth in demand. Taylor also said the transit fund as presented is "projected not to have a general fund subsidy."

Members of the public asked questions after the amendments were approved. Cynthia Rogers (Ward 4) asked why sanitation fund revenue was down, why interfund transfers fell from about $17.6 million to $7.3 million year over year, and why the city's risk management costs for health insurance rose by roughly $8 million. Resident Miami Windler (Ward 2) expressed concern about sales tax projections and the city's exposure if sales tax receipts decline.

Anthony Francisco, the city's director of finance, told the council health‑care costs are rising largely because the cost per claim (not the number of claims) has increased, with prescription costs cited as a key driver. Francisco and other staffalso addressed questions about grocery tax changes at the state level. Francisco said the state change exempted part of the state grocery sales tax but "the city's portion of sales tax at everything in the grocery store remained unchanged." He warned that if groceries were exempted at the local level the city would face a substantial revenue loss: "We estimate that if groceries were exempted at the local level, we would have an experience of, a 20 to 25% reduction in our sales tax revenue." He said such a reduction would be "devastating" because Norman relies heavily on sales tax revenue and has several dedicated sales taxes for services such as transit, public safety and capital programs (including the Norman Forward program).

Council and staff described options should revenues decline, including slowing the rate of rehiring for vacant positions and reassessing service levels by department. Francisco said overtime and line‑item detail are available in the budget document and monthly revenue‑expenditure reports for members of the public who want to drill down.

All amendments and the final motion to approve the FYE 2026 operating and capital budgets as amended were adopted by unanimous vote. The council concluded the meeting with public recognition of Budget Manager Ken Kaufman for preparing the budget.