City Council sets public hearings and opens FY 2026 budget process

The Oklahoma City Council voted unanimously to set public hearings on the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget and opened the series of department presentations that will inform final action this summer.

The vote was on a resolution setting May 13 and May 27 as initial public hearing dates and June 3 as the formal city council public hearing on the FY 2026 proposed annual budget. The motion "passes unanimously," Mayor Holt said, after the council cast its votes.

City Manager (name not specified) told the council the process is beginning with the manager's proposed budget but that "it is ours to consider, approve or amend along the way," and that the next steps include multiple departmental presentations and additional hearings. Chris York, the city's budget director, told the council the proposed total budget is about $2,054,000,000, "which is a 2.47% increase," and reviewed key revenue and expenditure assumptions.

Why this matters: the proposed budget frames city services and capital work for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025. Council members pressed staff on the revenue outlook — primarily sales and use tax trends — and on service impacts from proposed reductions and position changes.

City staff said FY 2026 is constrained by weaker-than-expected sales and use tax collection this current year and by the need to absorb previously committed cost increases (for example wage changes). York said the proposed budget assumes 1.86% growth in sales tax next year after near-flat growth in the current year; historically the city has averaged roughly 3% growth over a comparable window. Major recurring revenue categories York cited included taxes at $897,000,000 (44% of total) and fund balance (including capital funds) at just under $700,000,000.

York and the city manager described how the full $2.054 billion number includes large capital funds such as MAPS 4 and MAPS 3 and is therefore higher than annual operating spending. They noted non-operating funds are frequently "over-budgeted" on purpose because capital projects are multi-year and managers need encumbrance flexibility; the city manager illustrated that MAPS 4 had a $66,000,000 planned increase in FY 2026 and that hotel-motel tax changes approved by voters last year are expected to add roughly $7,000,000 in revenues.

On the operating side, staff said the proposed general fund (the city’s primary operating fund) would shrink slightly from $615,000,000 to about $611,000,000 under current assumptions. York summarized department-level guidance given earlier in the process (most general-fund supported departments asked to take a 4.5% reduction, public safety 1.5%) and explained how "same service level" adjustments (pay and contract cost increases) change arithmetic when those cuts are layered in.

Staff identified specific personnel and program adjustments in the proposal. The presentation noted a proposed deletion of 27 budgeted positions (department-level vacancies), a freeze of 20 police uniform positions (positions remain authorized but unfunded), planned deletions and moves in fire and police to meet targets, and several department-specific reductions in parks, municipal courts, development services and general government. York said no layoffs were planned and that the departments tried to minimize employee impacts by using vacancies and transfers where possible.

Council members asked about connections between budget choices and council priorities — several referenced the resident survey results and pushed for balancing austerity with investments in homelessness response and street repairs. City staff described the public engagement plan: the budget book will be posted at vision.okc.gov, an extended public comment period will begin immediately, and council will receive a packet of comments at the May 27 meeting with a final batch before the June adoption vote.

Staff clarified next steps: scheduled department presentations (public transportation and parking; parks and recreation; development services were on the agenda the same day), additional hearing dates two weeks later, and the adoption vote planned in June if the process proceeds on schedule.

Votes at a glance: Resolution (item 4A) to set public hearings on the proposed FY 2026 annual budget for May 13 and May 27, with June 3 as the formal council hearing — outcome: approved unanimously (motion and second recorded; individual roll-call counts not specified in the transcript).