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Muskegon County holds public hearing on proposed $350 million fiscal 2026 budget
Summary
At a Sept. 9 session, county staff presented the proposed FY2026 budget — roughly $350 million — highlighting lower revenues versus 2025, about $60 million in capital projects, and staffing adjustments; the plan moves next to Ways and Means on Sept. 16 and a full-board vote Sept. 23.
Muskegon County commissioners on Sept. 9 heard a public presentation of the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget that county staff described as “a structural balanced position” while showing declines in some revenue categories and a focus on capital investments.
The presenter told the board the total proposed budget is just over $350,000,000, with special revenue funds making up the largest share (about $165,500,000) and the general fund at about $73,000,000, or roughly 21% of the total. The county projects revenues of about $352,500,000 and expenses of about $350,000,000, which the presenter said would add roughly $2,500,000 to the projected fund balance.
The presentation attributed the year-over-year reductions to the winding down of large 2025 infrastructure projects — including airport work and a southeast regional force main — that inflated last year’s expenditures. Staff said the budget recommends about $60,000,000 in capital investments, including resource-recovery and solid-waste work, regional water projects, airport improvements and parks projects.
On staffing, the presenter said the proposed budget includes seven new positions, a set of reclassifications and salary adjustments, and the deletion of long-vacant positions to “clean up” the payroll table; the presenter emphasized that deletions reflect vacant lines, not layoffs. The recommended general salary increase averages about 3.73%, while benefits are projected to increase about 17.8% because of anticipated medical and pension cost pressures.
County staff also outlined general fund details: revenues projected near $70,000,000, expenses near $73,000,000, and planned uses of assigned and departmental surplus reserves and unassigned balance that would leave about $10,700,000 (roughly 15.4% of prior-year expenses), which the presenter said is within the board’s fund-balance policy range of 14%–19%.
The presenter noted a small rollback in the operating millage rate tied to the Headley amendment — lowering the operating millage by 0.0568 mills for the July 2026 levy unless further changes occur — and said property tax projections assume stable millage rates.
The board did not take a final vote at the hearing. County staff said the proposal will go to the Ways and Means committee on Sept. 16 and return to the full board for adoption on Sept. 23.
