Mexico Beach reviews preliminary FY26 budget amid revenue uncertainty

Mayor John called the Mexico Beach City Council to order on July 18 for the city’s second budget workshop, where staff presented a preliminary FY26 packet and warned several key revenue and cost items remain estimates.

Mike, a city staff member, led the packet review and said the first page is the revenue page but that some inputs — notably health insurance and workers’ compensation rates — were not yet confirmed. "We just updated by 10%, and those numbers are reflected inside the budget," Mike said, referring to an interim assumption for insurance costs.

The workshop focused on reconciling a snapshot shortfall and identifying one‑time carryovers. Council members asked whether the draft shows about a $1 million revenue shortfall compared with the prior year. Mike said carryovers and transfers from prior years could reduce the gap and promised to add prior‑year carryover figures to the packet for the next meeting.

Council members also pressed staff to produce more detailed, line‑by‑line backup from the city’s Springbrook general ledger so members can trace where professional services, interim staff costs and other large line items were charged. Mike said staff will provide a complete FY24 year‑to‑date column and Springbrook backup on request.

The meeting ended with staff commitments to: reconcile the local option gas tax figures, confirm insurance and contract rates when they arrive, and provide a consolidated vehicle and capital replacement plan for the next workshop. No formal votes were taken; the session was informational.