Gahanna opens public hearing on 2026 budget; no public comments as council continues review

Gahanna City Council on Dec. 1 opened a public hearing on Ordinance 49-2025, the city’s proposed appropriations ordinance for fiscal year 2026, and then closed the hearing after no members of the public registered to speak.

The council president read the hearing procedures and said that public comment would be limited to three minutes per speaker and that speakers must complete a slip and state their name and address for the record. With no speaker slips submitted, the council closed the hearing without testimony and referred budget questions to subsequent committee review.

Councilmembers and staff spent time in a follow-up finance committee discussion pressing for comparative context. Director Burry said staff did not have an immediate percentage change available “off the top of my head” but pointed councilmembers to detailed tables in the budget book while noting a one-time $5,000,000 payment to the Community Improvement Corporation affects year-to-year comparisons. “We did have that slight anomaly, because of the $5,000,000 to the CIC,” Director Burry said, explaining that excluding that expenditure would make comparisons more consistent.

Council members emphasized the capital improvement program (CIP) and the city’s strategic plan as the primary guardrails for the 2026 budget and directed colleagues and residents to the all-funds summary (pages 23–39 of the budget book) for a consolidated view of proposed spending. During committee discussion the proposed all-funds total was cited as roughly $114,000,000, which councilmembers said covers general fund, proprietary funds and enterprise funds.

What happens next: Ordinance 49-2025 was read for first consideration and is scheduled for a second reading and potential adoption on Dec. 15, when the council will again review the proposed appropriations and related CIP items.