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Excelsior Springs council adopts FY 2026 budget, leaves pay raises for later review
Summary
The Excelsior Springs City Council on Sept. 15 adopted the FY 2026 budget and approved modest utility rate changes; staff said revenues fell 8% in 2025 and the city will revisit employee pay in six months.
The Excelsior Springs City Council adopted the fiscal year 2026 budget on Sept. 15 after a presentation by City Manager Molly McGovern.
McGovern said the budget is a planning document aligned with council priorities and noted property values rose about 11% for 2025 while overall general fund revenues fell 8% in 2025. "I'm pleased to present the fiscal year 25 26 budget for your consideration," McGovern said during the presentation.
The budget includes no cost-of-living or merit pay increases at adoption; staff recommended reevaluating pay in six months to support retention and recruitment. The presentation highlighted several revenue and expense trends: sales-tax collections decreased 11% in 2025 (after a 7% gain in 2024); internet sales tax grew 5%; ambulance-billing collections dropped 29% in 2025 after prior increases.
On capital and infrastructure priorities, staff emphasized street maintenance and reconstruction: an annual maintenance budget target of $1,370,000 to raise the pavement condition index toward a combined score of 60, and a biannual reconstruction program target of $1,100,000. McGovern said completion of Dry Fork Greenway and Garland Bridge projects is expected during FY 2026 and the city will prioritize a sewer master plan and stormwater master plan.
The council approved proposed enterprise-rate adjustments that staff said would take effect Jan. 1 for most utility charges and Oct. 1 for the trash rate. Under the proposal cited in the staff report, the water base rate would move from $16.97 to $17.74 and the water per‑1,000‑gallon rate would move from $7.83 to $8.19; sewer and trash rates were adjusted as presented in the staff packet.
McGovern also listed several operating and service items funded or planned in the budget: continued Park & Rec maintenance and programming, a shop addition for Park & Rec, progress on a fire training facility, and evaluation of shifting municipal court operations to Clay County to realize estimated annual savings of roughly $206,000 (staff projected this saving from combined operating and police overtime costs).
The council moved to second reading and then voted to approve Ordinance 25‑09‑08, adopting the FY 2026 budget for Oct. 1, 2025–Sept. 30, 2026. Mayor Mark Spahn and all voting councilmembers recorded aye. The council expects to revisit employee compensation in six months as part of ongoing budget monitoring.
The budget presentation and adoption concluded with staff saying the city will continue to pursue grant funding for larger reconstruction projects.
