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Huntington mayor presents flat $78 million FY2026 general‑fund budget, shifts discretionary money toward reserves
Summary
Mayor Farrell presented a $78,000,000 general‑fund budget that keeps top‑line spending flat while reallocating some discretionary contributions into contingencies and reserves, and preserving police and fire funding as priorities; councilors pressed on cuts to microgrants, library and shelter support.
Mayor Farrell presented the City of Huntington’s proposed FY2026 general‑fund budget on Saturday, telling councilors the $78,000,000 plan is essentially flat with last year and is organized around three stated priorities: public safety, infrastructure and economic development. "All of this money, these $78,000,000 we're gonna spend belong to the people of Huntington," Mayor Farrell said while outlining the mayor’s guiding principles of transparency and fiscal conservatism.
The budget document, the mayor said, will be published and available for two weeks of public inspection before a public hearing and any council work sessions required by charter. The administration’s financial goal is to build the city’s unassigned fund balance toward a resilience target the mayor described as roughly $11,000,000; the FY26 projection currently shows about $9,000,000 depending on year‑end actuals.
Mayor Farrell and staff walked council through revenue and expense assumptions: a FY26 property‑tax estimate of about $6,700,000 (driven in part by a state change the mayor said will encourage earlier payments), a conservative $200,000 interest‑income budget, and a user‑fee line earmarked for paving and police needs. The mayor emphasized the proposal is a plan that can be revised later if revenues or needs change.
Council members pressed the administration for specifics in several areas. A longtime councilor questioned a jump in inspection‑fee revenue and whether enforcement — rather than hiring — would drive the increase; the mayor said staff will use existing personnel and step up enforcement and fee collection. Councilors also asked about the removal of authority for certain microgrants and about whether prior commitments — for example, a contract‑backed information‑referral allocation for the library — remain on track. The mayor said contract obligations will be honored and that all discretionary requests will be funneled through a new, public contribution‑request form to improve transparency.
The mayor framed the reallocation of some discretionary contribution dollars not as a permanent cut of mission work but as a move to strengthen the city's financial resiliency after several years of one‑time federal infusions. "We're going to spend it on the things that matter," he said, naming contingencies and a reserve build as priorities to ensure the city can weather future shocks without emergency cuts.
Next steps in the chartered budget process will be formal publication of the budget message, a two‑week public inspection period, a public hearing and council deliberations. Any changes to budgets tied to contracts or other obligations, the mayor said, will be returned to council as amendments or revisions.
Provenance: Mayor presentation and revenue discussion (transcript opening of mayor’s presentation through revenue Q&A)
