Gahanna finance committee reviews 2026 budget request including self‑insurance plan, staffing and $19.5M capital ask

Gahanna’s finance committee met at a Thursday workshop to review the administration’s proposed 2026 all‑fund budget, including a plan to create a self‑insurance internal service fund, staffing requests tied to the new civic center and public safety, and a capital improvement program that requests about $19.5 million for projects across transportation, parks, utilities and city facilities.

The review, led by Director Burry and department leaders, laid out major budget drivers for 2026: continued local economic growth, a proposed transition to self‑insurance for employee health coverage, ongoing utility cost increases from the City of Columbus, and funding to support moving city services into the new Gahanna Civic Center.

Director Burry said consultants gave the city three reserve targets for the proposed self‑insurance fund and that the administration expects to exceed the highest target. "We had enough employees to be self insured and we can do this with no disruption to employee coverage, no increase to employee premiums, and then saving in excess of a million dollars by doing so," Burry said. The actuarial work presented three reserve benchmarks (low about $922,000; moderate in between; high about $997,000) and…