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Municipal services outlines $132 million budget, details geo‑bond street, bridge spending and grant reliance
Summary
Director Lisa Reynolds told the City Council the Municipal Services Department’s proposed FY26 budget totals about $132 million, with much of the gap between expenditures and projected revenue explained by project‑based grant funding and a planned Geo Bond program allocating sidewalks, bridges and large‑scale overlays.
The Municipal Services Department proposed a fiscal‑year 2026 budget of about $132,000,000, with department director Lisa Reynolds saying the difference between that amount and projected revenue is largely project grants.
Reynolds, director of municipal services and deputy city manager, told the council the department secured $20,800,000 in grants in the current fiscal year and has averaged roughly $15 million to $32 million in annual grant awards in recent years. “The difference there is grant funding,” she said.
The budget presentation focused on capital and maintenance programs that the department manages for streets, sanitary sewer, storm water, water mains and vertical construction (municipal commons, three fire stations and police headquarters renovations). Reynolds said the department’s pavement maintenance program addressed 90.24 lane miles in the current year and noted the citywide pavement condition index is “roughly a 53 to 55.” She added the Geo Bond work will target streets with a PCI of 40 or below so the work “once we get in, we get in and we're done for 15, 20 years.”
Council members asked how Geo Bond Question 2 dollars would be spent. Reynolds said Question 2 provided $55,000,000 and that staff planned to allocate roughly $10,000,000 for sidewalks (seven elementary schools were named: two in Fort Osage and five in the Independence School District), $15,000,000 to address a list of 14 bridges (ranging from deck refinishing to complete replacement) and the balance to overlay and full‑depth street repairs. She said staff plans to bid large overlay packages in October to begin work in spring and to send a smaller overlay bid list in late spring for summer/fall work. Reynolds said the Geo Bond overlay program aims to add about $6,000,000 in overlay work annually on top of the city’s traditional pavement maintenance program.
Reynolds emphasized that municipal services accounts are segregated by fund and that sanitary, storm and water funds cannot be co-mingled with general fund dollars. She also noted grant funds used for capital projects are generally reimbursements that are realized as projects spend money rather than up‑front revenue.
Council members pressed for clarity on totals and differences between presentation slides and the adopted budget book; staff said they would reconcile the discrepancy and provide a written explanation.
Ending — Reynolds asked council members to raise questions as they review the budget; she said staff will bring results of a sanitary sewer cost of service study to the Public Utilities Board and council in July and will post Geo Bond project maps on the city website as projects proceed.
