Canal Winchester advances 2027 tax budget after finance director's presentation

Canal Winchester — Finance Director Amanda Jackson told the Canal Winchester City Council at a May 18 public hearing that the proposed 2027 tax budget is built around conservative revenue assumptions and must be filed with the county auditor by July 15 under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5705. Jackson said the city is anticipating $12.875 million in income-tax receipts for 2027 and that income taxes provided roughly 75% of general-fund revenue in 2025.

Jackson explained that the tax budget focuses on revenue limits rather than final appropriations. The draft shows general-fund revenue of just over $16 million and budgeted expenditures of just over $17 million, generating a roughly $833,000 deficit the city plans to cover partly from a healthy fund balance. Jackson noted the city finished 2025 with about $18.7 million in fund balance and said using reserves to support a planned spending level was intentional and sustainable in the near term.

On personnel costs, Jackson said salaries and benefits are budgeted to increase 3.3% for 2027 to include a cost-of-living adjustment, and that benefits costs have risen as more dependents have been added to employee plans. She also described several large noncapital costs baked into the general fund forecast, including income-tax-sharing agreements with Violet Township and the schools, contract services and lease-purchase payments tied to recent property acquisitions.

Jackson flagged several items that will affect final appropriations later in the year: pending intergovernmental estimates from state and county sources (typically available in June), potential state-level property-tax changes that are not reflected in the draft, and upcoming decisions about water and sewer user-rate adjustments tied to multi-year projects, notably the Headworks sewer project (an ongoing, multi‑million-dollar program with debt payments anticipated to begin in 2028).

Council members asked detailed questions. Councilmember Bennett pressed for clarification of percentage references used in the presentation and the dollar impact on the general fund; Jackson answered that the roughly 15% references were comparative changes between 2026 and 2027 in specific line items and that the salaries-and-benefits increase equates to a couple hundred thousand dollars in the general fund. Council also discussed how potential changes to property-tax law could affect TIF-funded public improvements and long-term obligations.

After the presentation and Q&A, council voted unanimously to move ordinance 26-012 (approving and adopting the 2027 tax budget) to full council for additional readings and final adoption.

What happens next: Jackson said final appropriations will be prepared for fall (around October) and that the tax-budget numbers are preliminary; the county budget commission will use the draft to adjust tax levies as required by law.

Quote: “For 2027 we are anticipating 12.875 million in income taxes,” Finance Director Amanda Jackson said during the presentation.

Authorities and documents referenced: ordinance 26-012 (2027 tax budget); Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5705 (budget process) as cited in the presentation.

Ending: The council advanced the ordinance to full readings; final appropriations are expected this fall when staff return with updated revenue estimates and any changes from state or county actions.