Edmond council hears second public review of $413 million FY2025–26 budget; hiring freeze, reserve use proposed

EDMOND, Okla. — Edmond city staff on June 3 presented a proposed $413 million budget for fiscal year 2025–26 that reduces planned expenses by about $40 million from the current year, proposes a hiring freeze for non-public-safety positions and relies on roughly $57 million in reserves to close the gap.

City Finance Director Kathy Panas told the City Council this meeting was the second public hearing on the proposed financial plan and was intended to address council questions from earlier workshops. "This is our second public hearing on the budget and its purpose is to address questions that the council had last time," Panas said.

The reduction in total expenses is driven primarily by a drop in capital-improvement spending: capital improvement program funding is down about $54 million from FY2024–25, Panas said, largely because large projects budgeted and encumbered in the prior year will not be re-budgeted in FY2025–26. Panas said the library/YMCA project accounted for roughly $31.5 million of the prior-year spending that will not be repeated in the new budget year; park and trail projects including Caplinger ball fields and other park work made up most of the remaining decline.

Council members repeatedly questioned how encumbered capital…