Staff recommends City Council hold a public hearing and adopt the FY2026 budget amendments.

This budget amendment request proposes supplemental funding across multiple funds to address unexpected expenditures, debt obligations, and project finalizations through June. Specifically, it allocates $170,000 to the Property and Liability Insurance fund to cover elevated MMIA claim payouts, and $1,294,000 to the Airport fund for remaining 2020A Line of Credit debt payments following the Billings Logan Airport remodel. Additionally, $16,340 from General Fund Code Enforcement surplus property sales will be remitted to the County to close out the Escheats program, while $90,677 was transferred from the Former Federal Building Fund to the City Hall Debt Fund following a final historical tax credit lease program reconciliation of funds received. Finally, cost overruns for the Dehler Park Netting project will be addressed by drawing $30,000 from Ballpark Donations and $37,000 from the Ball Park Repair Fund's respective reserves with the expectation that the Mustangs will help cover some of the cost overrun on the project. 

The following items are requested budget amendments for the 2nd quarter of Fiscal Year 2026. On 5/20/2026, the City Council Budget and Finance committee met and were presented with the following budget amendments. 

• Property and Liability Insurance Claims ($170,000): A budget amendment is necessary to increase property insurance funding in response to elevated claim payouts made by MMIA, with each claim subject to a $50,000 per-occurrence deductible. As these are based on occurrences, the previous estimate for the initial budget amendment was lower than the actual payout. This will be funded proportionately from funds responsible for the claims as an additional charge for service. This amount reflects an estimate through the end of June.
• Airport 2020A Debt Payoff ($1,294,000): A budget amendment is requested to payoff the remaining portion of the debt payment for the 2020A Airport Line of Credit.  ARPA grants ultimately funded the majority of the Billings Logan Airport remodel, so this amendment will payoff the remaining debt obligations under the 2020A Line of Credit for the remodel. This payoff is covered by the amount in Cash Reserves required to be set aside when opening the Line of Credit.
• Code Enforcement - Closure of Escheats Program ($16,340): A budget amendment is requested to finalize the Escheats program through Code Enforcement. Code Enforcement is holding surplus funds from a final property sale tied to a defunct 2020/2021 state partnership program for heirless estates. This was a non-budgeted item, but we have the cash on hand and need to remit it to the County to close out the project.
• Former Federal Building Transfer ($90,677): A budget amendment is requested to facilitate debt payments and agreed-upon expenses within the Historical Tax Credit Lease structure. This action involves transferring funds from a Historical Tax Credit entity to the designated debt payment fund. While a budget amendment was previously approved in February 2026, this supplemental request covers additional amounts transferred from the Former Federal Building to the City Hall Debt Fund following a final reconciliation of HTC lease structure payments.
• Ballpark Donations ($30,000) and Ballpark Repair Fund ($37,000): A budget amendment is requested to cover cost overruns for the Dehler Park Netting project. This supplemental funding request exceeds the original budget appropriation; however, both contributing funds maintain sufficient reserve balances to fully cover the additional expenses. Dehler Park is also expected to donate additional resources to help cover the project.

The impacts of these expenses will vary by fund. However, there is sufficient revenue and cash on hand to cover these expenses in all funds except for the Property and Liability Insurance Fund. The Property and Liability Insurance Fund will cover the shortage by charging proportionately to departments with the claims in FY26.



 

City Council may:
Approve; or,
Not Approve. If not approved, some funds may be over budget in FY26, and the City would not be compliant with State law (Title 7, Chapter 6, Part 40)