DeSoto presents balanced FY2026 budget proposal, recommends water rate increase and personnel changes

Interim Finance Director Lakita Sutton on Tuesday presented the City of DeSoto’s updated proposed budget for fiscal year 2026, telling the City Council the plan would leave the general fund in surplus while preserving the current property tax rate and proposing several personnel changes and service restructures.

Sutton said the updated proposal shows a general fund revenue total that is about $409,412 greater than expenditures, an improvement from the $33,640 surplus shown in the July draft. The proposal keeps the city’s combined tax rate at 0.684934 per $100 of taxable value and does not propose using reserves. Sutton also recommended a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for employees and a 3.5% step increase.

The budget matters because it sets the city’s services, staffing and capital workplan for the coming year. Sutton told council that the budget assumes opening the Aquatics and Recreation Center in March or April 2026 and includes the start of onboarding for the municipal golf club, along with continuing capital improvement projects funded by the city’s most recent bond sale.

Key details in the proposal include a recommended 9% increase in water base and volume rates —…