Mayor Mary Deutsch and the city controller presented the city’s proposed 2026 budget and warned that structural revenue changes and rising costs will require sustained financial planning.

Mayor Mary Deutsch said the budget includes a 2% across‑the‑board raise, standardized pay ranges for positions, and a proposed riverboat transfer to the general fund of $4.3 million that the administration intends to use only as needed. She said the city is working with accounting firm Baker Tilly on financial forecasting through 2028 and that House Enrolled Act 1448—money owed to the city by the state—will provide $8.2 million in monthly payments beginning next August spread over about four years.

The mayor pointed to several risks and highlights: health‑care costs have risen and the city now budgets $23,000 per employee (up from $21,000 in 2025), creating a roughly $400,000 increase in the city’s share of health costs year to date. The administration noted riverboat and rainy‑day fund balances (riverboat/rainy day grand total ending balance $6,313,614.37 as of Sept. 16, 2025) and said some funds—motor vehicle highway, refuse/sanitation—are drawing down cash balances for capital needs such as CNG truck matches (the mayor said about $132,000 remained in a grant match and a truck cost nearly $500,000). The mayor also said permit and inspection revenue has increased after a new permitting software was implemented.

Mary Limwell, the city controller, reviewed the ordinance process for appropriations and tax rates, saying the current item is a first reading and that a public hearing is scheduled for the next council meeting; the budget will be advertised as required by statute via Gateway and returned for second and third readings as the formal process proceeds.

Why it matters: The budget sets staffing, pay and capital priorities for 2026 and addresses long‑term revenue uncertainty tied to state‑level changes in local income tax distribution (the mayor noted LIT changes affect public safety funding categories and that the LIT will change in 2028).

Details and next steps: Controller Limwell said the appropriation and tax‑rate ordinance is on first reading; the public hearing will be at the next council meeting and the council may propose cuts before final adoption. The administration also announced that Restoring Communities grants (use of opioid settlement funds) are open with awards of $5,000 to $25,000 and are due Oct. 15.