Hendersonville public-safety committee hears draft 2026 operating budget with roughly $800,000 shortfall

Hendersonville’s Public Safety Committee on April 8 reviewed a draft fiscal 2026 operating budget that staff said remains approximately $800,000 short of a balanced operating plan.

Committee chair and budget staff presented revenue adjustments and expense drivers and said most remaining reductions would affect operations. “We’re still not balanced in the operating budget. There’s some things we’ll talk about, but right now, we’re at $800,000 approximately in the red,” Committee member Jesse said during the meeting.

Tamara, a budget staff member, summarized recent revenue adjustments: “We’ve increased the parks revenue by 25,000 and then reduced the beer and liquor tax revenue by 25,000.” She also laid out other small revenue changes and noted that sales-tax receipts are running slightly ahead of last year, by roughly $73,000 to date.

The committee was told public-safety spending dominates the proposed operating budget: about 53% of the general fund operating budget is for police and fire. Staff attributed most of the overall operating increase to salary and benefit changes, including prior midyear raises. The presentation…