Arlington council approves year-end budget amendments, authorizes 2026 modifications

The Arlington City Council on Tuesday approved an ordinance amending the city's 2025 budget and authorizing modifications to the 2026 budget, a year-end housekeeping step city staff said is required to begin the new biennium with balanced accounts.

City finance staff member Paul told the council the amendments are largely capital projects carried over from one year to the next and interfund transfers. He described the 2025 amendments in the meeting record as "about 12,600,000,000, in changes to the ... budget" and said the 2026 modifications total $20,100,000, with much of the funding coming from grants and project-specific reserves.

"Most of them are capital projects," Paul said, describing the package as a way to align expenses with grant awards and project timing. A member of the public asked whether the grants were state or federal; Paul replied they are a mixture but are dominantly state grants, with some federal funds and other public-agency sources mixed in.

After closing the public hearing with no substantive public opposition, a councilmember moved to approve the ordinance and to authorize the mayor to sign; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously on a voice vote.

The ordinance instructs staff to carry forward designated capital appropriations and to record received grant revenues in the appropriate funds. The council did not amend the ordinance on the floor.

City staff said most items in the packet had been previously authorized by council action; the year-end ordinance simply records carryovers and adjustments needed to close 2025 and open 2026 in a balanced posture.

The council took the action as part of its final meeting of the year and recessed until its next scheduled meeting on Jan. 5.