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Proposed 2027 budget presented as structurally balanced; commissioners press for details on mill, fees and projects
Summary
Administration presented a proposed $551 million 2027 budget described as "structurally balanced," including a possible 1‑mill increase for city and county, investments in infrastructure and parks, funding for a homelessness coordinator, and proposals to recover DMV costs via an $8 transaction fee; commissioners asked for more granular impact and ROI analyses.
Interim County Administrator Allen House and Budget Director Reginald Lindsay presented the proposed 2027 budget on Aug. 6, calling it a structurally balanced plan intended to stabilize reserves and fund targeted capital and service investments.
"This budget that we are bringing before you tonight is structurally balanced both on the city and the county and, puts the UG on firmer financial footing over the long term," House said. The proposed $551 million unified budget includes a city general-fund proposal of about $205 million and a county general fund around $103 million, and assumes a 4% departmental expense-growth target for 2027. Key investments staff highlighted include repair and reopening of the Mill Street Bridge, emergency radio and siren system upgrades, $10 million in debt for replacement of the Sunflower Hills clubhouse (with debt service to be repaid from golf-course revenues), restarted county infrastructure funding (the SCI‑FI program) at $1.2 million, funding for a homeless coordinator (partially philanthropy-funded), additions to grants and economic-development staff and technology investments including a new 311 customer database and continued Workday ERP work.
Staff also outlined the fiscal implications of expiring federal grants (COPS for police and SAFER for fire), noting the budget attempts to absorb personnel previously funded by those grants by shifting vacancies and managing staffing mixes; commissioners pressed for clearer multi‑year modeling. Administration proposed an $8 per-transaction DMV fee (now allowable under state law) to recover county costs for mandated motor-vehicle operations; several commissioners objected to adding a new per-transaction fee and asked for alternatives. The budget process will continue with committee workshops, a public hearing and adoption scheduled in late August.
