“It’s an anomaly due to the number of days and weeks in a year, 27 pay periods occur about every 11 years,” said Jones, which adds about $1.5 million to the general fund.
This extra pay period will also result in the city dipping below its policy of maintaining an ending unencumbered balance of 10% of revenues.
“With that 27th pay, it looks like we’re going to come in at $5.2 million,” Jones said of the unencumbered reserve fund. “However, we do have a budget stabilization fund that has about $1.2 million and can cover that.”
Jones said he is hopeful the city’s income tax revenues will make up for that deficit, which historically has happened. In 2025, Hamilton projected income tax revenues will be $36 million, and the city will end the year at just under $40 million.
The finance director said income tax revenues could exceed the projected $37.5 million mark. While 2026 income tax revenues could exceed $40 million, Jones said he was “not comfortable” projecting that figure at this time.
“I’d like to see a couple more years of history get under our belt, so we’re staying conservative,” he said.
Though Jones said they are projecting a conservative budget, Hamilton is expected to exceed the adopted budgeted revenues for 2025. While city finance staff anticipated total revenues of just more than $61.6 million, they are reporting that they will end the year at nearly $67.9 million.
Most of the general fund money will be spent on public safety, which is expected to see a 3.35% increase in spending in 2026. Public safety is the largest expenditure for the city’s general fund.
Two-thirds of the general fund will be allocated to public safety, which includes the municipal court, 911 dispatch, and the Hamilton Justice Center, as well as police and fire services. Police and fire are projected to spend $21.1 million and $18.3 million, respectively, according to the proposed 2026 budget.
City Council is expected to vote on the budget at Wednesday’s meeting.
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