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Rochester Hills council adopts FY2026 budget after months of review; mayor, CFO praise process
Summary
Rochester Hills City Council on Sept. 22 unanimously adopted the city’s fiscal year 2026 budget following public workshops and hearings. Council approved a multi-year budget plan the administration described as the culmination of months of work, authorized the mayor to administratively adjust operating line items up to $25,000, and approved a str
Rochester Hills City Council unanimously adopted the fiscal year 2026 budget on Sept. 22 after a multi-month review that included public workshops, a straw poll and a public hearing.
City CFO Joe Snyder and department directors presented the budget plan covering fiscal years 2026 to 2028. Snyder summarized the budget process, noting it began with a strategic review in May, a seven-year financial forecast in July, the mayor’s proposed three-year budget in August and a public budget workshop on Aug. 18. Council also held a public hearing on Sept. 8. At the Aug. 18 workshop, council members polled to amend the mayor’s proposal and later voted to convert one part-time museum facilities position to full time.
Councilmember Mongeoli said she appreciated staff work but urged the council to find savings over the coming year to return the charter millage rate to the prior level. "That amount, the $250,000, in my mind, equals almost what we spent at our last meeting fixing Brewster Road because there was an overage," she said, urging efforts to reduce the millage in 2027.
Mayor Barnett and several council members praised the city’s financial stewardship. The mayor highlighted that Rochester Hills is one of the few Michigan cities that carries no debt, noting the city owns its buildings and equipment and has no pension obligations. "Because of the financial stewardship of the city council... we are Michigan's only debt free city," he said.
The formal motion, moved by Councilmember Mongeoli and seconded by Councilmember Moreland, adopted the proposed budget as presented and authorized the mayor to administratively adjust operating budget line items up to $25,000 per event, provided total expenditures of a particular fund do not exceed amounts appropriated without a formal council budget amendment. Adjustments from capital accounts and fund balances must be made only by further council action.
Council voted unanimously to adopt the budget. The packet presented to council includes departmental budgets and administrative responses to council questions; the administration said it will continue to provide updates as departments implement the adopted plan.
Why this matters: The annual budget sets spending levels for municipal services, capital projects and staffing. Council members noted the budget totals "$223,000,000 and change" for 2026 and emphasized the city’s long-standing fund-balance and policy-driven approach to fiscal management.
