The Kirksville City Council on Dec. 1, 2025 held a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget and approved the budget ordinance on first reading.

Finance Director Lacey King presented the proposed budget and said the document is available online and as a hard copy with the city clerk. "This year, our budget has aggregate expenditures of $59,588,578," King told the council, and she provided a program-area breakdown: utilities 24%; emergency services 18%; public works/streets/engineering 16%; community and economic development and codes 16%; transportation (including the airport and Kirksville Transit) 8%; administrative services/IT/tourism 6%; and recreation 4%. King said capital replacement and infrastructure account for about 33 percent of the total — cited as $19,890,000 in the presentation.

King described the municipal budgeting timeline and the legal requirements under Missouri statute to present revenues and expenditures for each fund. She also summarized the city's fund structure: "Currently, the city has 28 funds that it operates with," and urged the public to submit input during the hearing.

During the hearing King noted the city also must present the original 2025 budget, an amended 2025 budget and two prior years as required by law. She said the original 2025 budget figure presented was $61,482,006.55 and staff described a proposed adjustment to account for projects that will be pushed into 2026 (the transcript records an adjusted figure of $44,000,008.30). King asked council to approve the ordinance on first reading to allow time for any adjustments before a second reading.

The council voted to approve the ordinance on first reading; the council clerk read the ordinance (Bill 2025-59) that appropriates expenditures for FY2026 and scheduled a second reading for the Dec. 15 meeting. No substantive public opposition to the budget was recorded during the hearing.

The next procedural step is the second reading and final vote on Dec. 15; staff said that approval at second reading will permit any last-minute adjustments identified after public review.

Ending: The council recessed business on the budget after approving first reading and will consider final adoption at the December 15 meeting.