Georgetown council reviews FY2026 budget requests; mayor to present proposal May 12

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Georgetown City staff on Thursday presented a preliminary Fiscal Year 2026 budget request to the City Council, outlining departmental hiring requests, capital priorities and revenue projections ahead of the mayor nd administration—inal proposed budget, scheduled for May 12.

Stacy, a city finance staff member who led the presentation, told council members the Mayor is “considering and planning to recommend a 2.9% COLA in this budget.” Stacy said the 2.9% figure comes from the Department of Local Government guidance and that the city pplied a new step schedule so employees will receive step increases plus the COLA, producing a combined increase that averages 2.9% across positions. Stacy said the direct salary-and-benefits cost of the proposed COLA, including retirement and payroll taxes, is just under $575,000.

Why it matters: the work session collected department-level requests and preliminary revenue figures that the mayor will use to craft a proposed budget. The presentation identified roughly $11.3 million in capital requests and a preliminary operating shortfall of about $695,000 before the mayor—inalizes priorities.

Most important details first: public safety, staffing and major capital

- Police: The Georgetown Police Department requested nine net additional staffing positions in its FY2026 budget package, including a new operations captain (estimated total compensation about $174,600), restoration of a lieutenant position that had been serving in dispatch (about $147,500), five full-time sworn officer positions (each estimated at roughly $119,535), two non-sworn safety officers (about $96,400 each) and a crime analyst/open-records clerk (about $96,400). Stacy said the department sked to raise overtime budget to $800,000 for FY2026. The police operating request was presented as roughly $15 million for FY2026, with personnel the primary driver of the increase.

- Fire: The Fire Department requested six additional frontline firefighter positions (estimated total compensation roughly…