Columbus council outlines fixes to 2025 operating budget after $9.57 million shortfall

Columbus City Council heard detailed briefings on the city’s 2025 operating budget during a Feb. operating budget hearing, where officials disclosed a roughly $9.57 million downward adjustment to the general fund revenue estimate and presented a package of reallocations and amendments intended to close the gap without cutting core services.

Council Chair Bankston opened the hearing by saying the session would review “last year’s revenue results, the current state of our budget, and the amendments council plans to make to the budget this coming Monday.” He and councilmembers emphasized that the changes are meant to preserve services while reflecting recent revenue and expenditure developments.

Why it matters: The city’s auditors and finance team said the shortfall reflects lower-than-expected year-end collections, the winding down of federal pandemic-era relief programs and persistent inflationary pressures on labor, supplies and services. Council and administration officials said they identified about $1.16 million in additional resources for council priorities while packaging technical shifts to keep the budget balanced.

City finance and audit overview

Director of Finance Chris Long told the council that while the Central Ohio region and Columbus continue to grow, operating costs have outpaced revenue growth because of inflation and residual pandemic impacts on costs for labor, parts, health insurance and other inputs. “We’re really seeing it across the board,” Long said, citing fleet parts, negotiated labor contracts and health insurance as contributors to higher costs.

Auditor Kilgore presented the changes to the official revenue estimate that will be published as part of Monday’s proposed council agenda. Kilgore said the first adjustment is a reduction of about $9,570,000, driven by a lower-than-anticipated Dec. 31 ending fund balance (about $1,600,000 lower than expected) and a revenue estimate variance of roughly $778,000 for the year. She also described two increases that would partially offset the reduction:…