Columbus City Council members wrapped up their budget hearings this week and will look to vote on the final spending plan for 2026 some time in the next month or so.
Mayor Mary Ferdon gave a top-line overview of the budget on Monday, with budget hearings following over the next couple of days where department heads presented their respective budgets to city council members.
The budget will be formally advertised in September, with council members considering its approval over two separate meetings shortly after. Then the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) will return with a final certified budget, rate and levy in December or January.
Columbus’ tentative budget for 2026 is about $149 million, up from $115 million in 2025. The 2026 certified property tax rate is expected to be about $1.1082 for every $100 of assessed value, up 5% from last year.
City Controller Regina McIntyre told city council members that the city is expecting 2026 “to be fundamentally flat from a property tax standpoint” with a 2% natural growth in assessed values coming off newly-passed Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 1.
“All of this is to say we believe that next year we will be flat,” according to McIntyre. “In the following years, we believe there will be some slight growth. And again, it’s all hinged on the assessed values.”
Built into the budget are a 2.7% cost-of-living-adjustment for civilian employees, employee health insurance premium increases of 2%, and a 11.6% increase in water utility expenses as a result of rate increases. City departments are getting 4% increases to allow for merit increases and pay adjustments as determined by department heads.
The largest of $20 million in budgeted capital expenses is $5 million for a new Columbus Animal Care Services shelter, which assumes $3 million in external fundraising and donations.
It will use a buy-operate-transfer procurement method the city began using in 2025. The project is expected to break ground in the spring of 2026, with completion in 2027.
Three personnel requests are included in the budget— two for police and one for engineering.
Columbus police are seeking to add another school resource officer (SRO) who will work in BCSC schools. That will bring the total number of CPD-employed SROs to five. BCSC will have seven total, two of which are employed by the sheriff’s office.
CPD is also adding a new part-time intelligence analyst position as their Intelligence Led Policing Unit transitions away from a small, specialized unit to a department-wide intelligence led policing approach, the mayor said.
“With this part-time position they’re requesting, the goal is we will get police officers out of the intelligence-led policing unit back onto the streets,” Ferdon said. “What we will be doing is having the analyst feeding information out to our officers.”
The new position in engineering is an engineering tech to track data across a couple of city departments.
The city is planning expenses of $250,000 each for an update to its compensation study and for an update to the city’s comprehensive plan.
Also, NexusPark is being provided a transfer of a $200,000 subsidy as city officials say its self-sustaining revenue streams begin to build. A $300,000 subsidy was transferred for the same purpose this year. The city is anticipating transferring $200,000 towards NexusPark in 2027 as well.
The mayor also said they are planning to invest $800,000 over the next two to three years into the city’s six fire stations “including all kinds of rehab: drywall, and then we have roof repairs on Station 4 and Station 6.”
City officials said 43% of budgeted expense are going towards employee salaries and benefits and 37% towards capital expenses, although that make-up is greatly skewed because of a $35 million grant from the FAA directed towards the new air traffic control tower at Columbus Municipal Airport. Normally employee salary and benefits would make up between 50% and 60% of budgeted expenses, McIntyre said. Last year employee salaries and benefits comprised 57% of the total.
The following is a breakdown of the preliminary budget, which is still likely subject to change:
Below is a breakdown of how much is budgeted in city funds reviewed by the DLGF:
- General Fund: $66.3 million
- Debt Service Fund: $660,250
- Fire Pension Fund: $2.6 million
- Police Pension Fund: $1.1 million
- Thoroughfare Fund: $1.7 million
- Local Road & Street Fund: $975,000
- Motor Vehicle Highway Fund: $2.3 million
- Recreation Fund: $8 million
- Park Bond Fund: $398,549
- Cumulative Capital Development Fund: $1.8 million
- Total: $85.9 million
Below is a breakdown of how much is budgeted in city funds not reviewed by the DLGF:
- Aviation Fund: $2.5 million
- Police Continuing Education Fund: $50,000
- Local Income Tax Public Safety Fund: $1 million
- Police Alarm SYS Fund: $25,000
- NexusPark Fund: $1 million
- Medical Non-Reverting Fund: $25,000
- Unsafe Building Fund: $40,000
- Economic Dev Income Tax CEDIT Fund: $4.8 million
- Commons Operating/Capital Fund: $1.2 million
- Streetscape Fund: $55,000
- Riverboat Fund: $600,000
- Community Crossing Grant Fund: $1 million
- Fire Training Facility Fund: $103,100
- Substance Abuse Non-Reverting Fund: $500,000
- Rental Registration Fund: $6,000
- 46 Overpass Fund: $1 million
- Community Development Block Grant Fund: $702,000
- FAA Grant Fund: $35 million
- Insurance Non-reverting Fund: $9.1 million
- Redevelopment Fund: $609.406
- Transit Non-reverting Fund: $3.7 million
- Total: $63.1 million
