Kennesaw council approves FY2026 operating and capital budgets

The Kennesaw City Council on Monday approved the fiscal year 2026 operating budget and the related capital improvements plan, council members said after a final public hearing.

At the hearing, Jennifer, a city finance official, presented the proposed general fund operating budget and described revenue and spending priorities. "This is our final public hearing for the 2026 proposed budget," she said, then outlined key revenue sources and spending categories, noting that taxes make up about $25,900,000, or roughly 76% of the general fund projection. She also said the proposal includes a bond-millage rollback from 1.5 mills to 1.4 mills and an overall operating-budget increase described by staff as roughly 7% over the prior year.

The adopted operating budget lists personal services and contractual services as the largest expenditure categories and sets aside contingency and reserves. Staff also described capital requests and business-type fund changes, including a 48% increase in the stormwater fund because of using prior-year reserves for stormwater improvements and vehicle purchases. Remaining SPLOST balances cited by staff were $2.3 million for the 2011 SPLOST, $7.6 million for the 2016 SPLOST and $24.7 million for the 2022 SPLOST.

Councilors raised no substantive public objections during the hearing. After a motion and second, the council approved the operating budget and the capital improvements budget by unanimous vote.

What happens next: The budget as approved provides the city’s spending framework for FY2026 and authorizes planned capital work and staffing changes described by staff. Implementation steps and project scheduling will follow through departmental work plans and future procurement actions.

Sources and evidence: The presentation and figures were provided during the council’s final public hearing on the proposed FY2026 budget (presentation by Jennifer). The record shows council approval by unanimous vote.