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 projects affect the appearance of a lower FY2026 budget. "If we encumbered the money, by state law, when do we have to have those bills paid?" Mayor Bryant asked, pressing staff on the timing of payments and how encumbrances roll into subsequent budgets.

Panas and other finance staff explained that projects are encumbered when full funding is available so the city can award contracts; the encumbrance is carried forward on the books and invoices are paid as billed, which can cause apparent year-to-year swings. Staff recommended the council consider budget-reporting reforms and a committee to review fund structure and presentation.

Utilities and bond proceeds altered revenue projections. Staff said about $22 million in bond proceeds were recognized in FY2025 and lifted that year’s revenue projections. Utilities spending and debt service increased — driven by substation work, water plant expansion and other utility capital — and helped offset the CIP decline.

Panas’s slides also showed roughly $147 million in "other services and charges," with wholesale electric purchases alone accounting for about $70 million and contract services about $30 million. Staff flagged IT software, AMR ambulance contract costs and insurance as notable contract-service items.

Public safety budgets and reserve levels were a focus. Police Chief J.D. Younger and Fire Chief Chad Weaver joined the discussion. Younger emphasized that the police department does not rely on forfeiture funds for core operations, saying, "enforcement should not fund government, government should fund enforcement." Younger and staff noted police personnel are about 89% of the department’s direct costs and that fund balances have fluctuated in the past several years; the police public-safety fund balance was described in the meeting as roughly $20 million currently, with a Crawford and Associates target noted at about a 30% reserve (roughly $10–12 million, per the discussion).

Fire Chief Chad Weaver said large fire apparatus purchases and the recent opening of a fire station increased near-term fund usage: "These items have already been bought," Weaver said, noting apparatus acquisition timelines and that most invoices had been paid.

Staff proposed a partial hiring freeze: no new hires will be funded for general positions, with exceptions for public-safety and utility roles. Council discussion included a scenario request for June 4: staff should recalculate the budget if funding for currently vacant non-public-safety positions were removed (authorization could remain but the dollars would be held out) to see how that change affects the general fund reserve percentage.

Panas said the city’s proposed budget adoption remains scheduled for June 9, with a legal drop-dead adoption date of June 23; staff also scheduled an additional hearing for June 4 to continue unanswered questions. A member of the public, Taylor Wilson of Edmond, urged the council to restore a 10% general-fund reserve policy and to perform formal reserve studies for major asset categories.

The council took no final votes on the budget at the meeting; the only formal recorded motion was to adjourn the special hearing, which was seconded and carried without a detailed roll call in the transcript.

Next steps: staff will provide the additional scenarios and spreadsheets requested by council members, run the vacant-position funding scenarios for general fund reserve impacts and return to the council at the June 4 follow-up hearing and the scheduled June 9 budget adoption meeting.

(For the record: figures and program names are as presented by city staff during the June 3, 2025, special budget hearing. Where staff provided a range or noted the figure was an estimate, the article reports the numbers as stated.)