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: an anticipated $6,280,000 adjustment from encumbrance cancellations and about $1,560,000 from transferring dormant funds back to the general operating fund. Kilgore said the net effect will be reflected in a formal update to the city’s revenue estimate on Monday.

How council proposes to close the gap

Legislative Research Director Matt Erickson described the specific ordinance structure and the package of amendments council will consider. He said the city’s operating budget is enacted through three ordinances: the general fund ordinance, the other funds ordinance (special revenue funds that support departments such as Recreation and Parks and Building and Zoning Services), and a Select Other Funds ordinance that covers items like debt service and tax increment financing appropriations.

Erickson described several technical moves that reduce the pressure on the general fund. Those include: - Removing roughly $8 million in adult-use cannabis tax revenue from the general fund and placing it in the newly created cannabis host community special revenue fund (a change already made by ordinance 3436 in December). Erickson said that action requires the city to “strip” that $8 million out of the general fund estimate and account for it in other funds. - Transferring certain Facilities Management Division contract obligations to a General Permanent Improvement Fund (GPIF) that covers eligible capital-like expenses funded by sale of city assets, reducing general fund services by roughly $150,000. - Shifting some Department of Development human-services contracts to the cannabis host community special revenue fund. - Adjusting how code enforcement officer expenses are split between the general fund and a development services fund, with the development services fund bearing a larger portion (about $100,000). - Reducing economic development incentive payments in the citywide transfer line by about $1,000,000.

Erickson also said council is pursuing a contract modification with the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio that is expected to provide about $630,000 in additional resources and that the administration and council teams identified roughly $150,000 in dormant funds that can be repurposed.

Council priorities and earmarks

Councilmembers described how roughly $1.16 million of newly identified or reallocated resources were earmarked for priorities the council said the community asked them to preserve. Items specifically mentioned by councilmembers include: - Continued funding for the Columbus Families Together Fund, providing legal assistance to immigrants and migrants at risk of deportation, and funding for a newly formed Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs to support community engagement and emergency needs (Councilmember Rosa de Padilla). - Funding for mandatory Recreation and Parks training and staffing for the new Fran Ryan Center, and new or continued investments in services for veterans and older adults (Councilmember Dachau). - Increased support for the Community Shelter Board (CSB) to sustain shelter operations and homelessness services, continued funding for the Columbus Promise program to support Columbus City School students, and investments in housing, economic development, small business, workforce development and civil-rights protections (Council President Harden). - Pilot funding for climate-resiliency “resiliency hubs” to coordinate community supports during extreme weather events (Councilmember Wyche). - Continued investment in minority small-business support programs (Urban Business Connection and a Minority Business Program through Experience Columbus), which councilmembers said have served more than 200 businesses (Councilmember Wyche). - Public safety–adjacent investments such as the Cleaner Columbus initiative and Project Taillight to help residents repair vehicles needed for work and daily life (Councilman Ramey).

Procedure and next steps

Erickson and staff walked council through the timing required by the city charter. He said the council cannot both amend and pass the operating budget on the same agenda item: amendments must appear in the city bulletin at least once between amendment and passage. Erickson said the amendments would be posted in the city bulletin on Feb. 8 and that the three ordinances related to the operating budget (general fund and other funds ordinances) were expected to appear on the Feb. 10 council agenda for passage. Erickson asked councilmembers to expect a formal auditor revenue-estimate update between Feb. 3 and Feb. 10.

Public comment and broader revenue review

During the public-comment portion of the hearing, speakers representing immigrant-serving organizations urged continued and increased support for bilingual, culturally competent services. Cassandra Ramirez, a team leader in the Solatina program at the Ohio Hispanic Coalition, asked the council to support the coalition’s work and funding for services the organization provides to Latino and Hispanic residents.

Council President Harden and Chair Bankston said the administration and council will also convene a Financial Review Advisory Committee (FRAC) — modeled on a similar process used in 2011 — to study long-term revenue options for funding human services, arts, tourism and related needs. President Harden said housing and homelessness will be centered in FRAC conversations, and called the process a chance to move beyond year-to-year fixes.

What the council did not do

No final votes were held during the hearing; councilmembers and staff presented proposals and described scheduled ordinance filings and a timeline for formal amendment and passage at future meetings. Several items mentioned by staff (contract changes, ordinance postings and the auditor’s revenue-estimate update) were described as pending actions to be considered by council on upcoming agendas.

Ending note

Council and administration officials framed the package of technical shifts and targeted reinvestments as a way to protect essential programs in a tighter fiscal year while beginning a longer-term conversation about sustainable revenue and funding of core human services.