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Council opens first public hearing on Midland’s 2026–27 budget, reviews options to close $17.7M gap
Summary
City staff presented a proposed 2026–27 budget with a roughly $17.7 million gap between revenues and expenses; council discussed protecting key projects, delaying others, and a possible 0.5-mill increase that would generate roughly $2 million toward closing the shortfall.
The Midland City Council on April 27 held the first public hearing on the proposed 2026–27 city budget, as staff outlined a package of options aimed at closing a structural gap that staff and the manager said currently totals about $17.7 million.
Finance staff presented high-level figures that show a proposed total city budget of about $198.6 million and a general-fund revenue projection rising modestly from $55.2 million to about $56.2 million for fiscal 2027. Personnel costs account for the largest single category of general-fund spending.
The city manager and finance team described a two-phased approach to reducing the gap: an initial cut list that removed roughly $6.6 million in council-goal items and follow-up operational reductions and capital deferrals that would close additional shortfalls. Officials also presented targeted reductions in health-insurance budget lines and a range of capital-project deferrals; they said those steps bring the budget closer to historical ranges adopted by council in prior years.
"It's now since last week been reduced again by about a quarter of $1,000,000 down to about $17,700,000," the manager said in the presentation when describing the gap.
Among options shown were delaying or removing a set of capital projects (parking-lot and cemetery-road works, library projects, and other items), reclaiming previously earmarked leachate funds for other near-term needs, and shifting some projects to street funds where appropriate. The manager also proposed a possible 0.5-mill increase — taking the millage from about 15.14 to roughly 15.64 — which staff estimated would generate nearly $2 million. Staff noted the choice to raise millage repeatedly has been avoided historically but may be necessary given continuing inflationary and valuation pressures.
Council members said they wanted to protect a small set of projects that they deemed high priority: the Municipal Service Center fleet building, Lot D downtown parking lot repairs (described as in particularly rough shape), the vacation buyback employee benefit, and the fire department’s exercise-equipment request. Members also asked staff to provide more detailed comparisons and trend data on key cost drivers such as health insurance and pension contributions ahead of the next hearing.
Public comment during the hearing included a resident who said he supports a millage increase to preserve city services and amenities. Separate public commenters later raised an unrelated code-enforcement complaint and requested better outreach, while representatives of Civic Arena user groups asked for more routine coordination between stakeholders and city staff to reduce disruption during maintenance closures.
Staff told council it will return with a revised budget for the next public hearing on May 11 and the adoption scheduled for May 18; the manager and finance staff said they will build the council’s near-term direction into that presentation.
