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Item 9.
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| City Council Regular | |
| Date: | 08/25/2025 |
| Title: | FY2026 City of Billings Budget Adoption |
| Presented by: | Andy Zoeller, Finance Director |
| Department: | Finance |
| Presentation: | Yes |
| Legal Review: | No |
| Project Number: | N/A |
RECOMMENDATION
Staff is recommending that City Council hold a public hearing and adopt the FY26 budget, with the amended amounts described below.
BACKGROUND (Consistency with Adopted Plans and Policies, if applicable)
On June 23rd, City Council adopted resolution 25-11279 establishing the preliminary budget and legal spending limits for the City of Billings for fiscal year 2026.
Staff has identified the following adjustments, which are included in the attached resolution adopting the FY26 Budget for the City of Billings:
North 27th Street Tax Increment (Downtown TIF) - Increase of $67,017 which is the remaining funds for the Skypoint Rehabilitation project. In previous years, City Council authorized the spending of Downtown TIF funds for the rehabilitation and improvements to the Skypoint. These funds are the remaining amounts from the total $260,000 that was approved in prior years.
South Tax Increment Fund - Increase of $250,000 for Optimist Park Lighting. This project was included in the FY25 budget, after the CIP was adopted. This project was not completed in FY25, and is being requested to be included in the FY26 budget. There are sufficient funds for the additional expenditure.
Parking Fund & City Hall Financing Fund - The City of Billings closed on the sale of old City Hall and Park 1 retail in July 2026. These funds resulted in about $2.9 million, which has always been planned to be used to pay down the borrowed amounts for the construction of new City Hall. The addition of $888,703 to the Parking Fund is a result of the transfer of cash from the sale of the Park 1 retail building (a Parking asset) to the City Hall Financing Fund. The addition of $2.9 million to the City Hall Financing Fund will allow for the prepayment of borrowed funds that was not originally included in the FY26 preliminary budget.
Staff has identified the following adjustments, which are included in the attached resolution adopting the FY26 Budget for the City of Billings:
North 27th Street Tax Increment (Downtown TIF) - Increase of $67,017 which is the remaining funds for the Skypoint Rehabilitation project. In previous years, City Council authorized the spending of Downtown TIF funds for the rehabilitation and improvements to the Skypoint. These funds are the remaining amounts from the total $260,000 that was approved in prior years.
South Tax Increment Fund - Increase of $250,000 for Optimist Park Lighting. This project was included in the FY25 budget, after the CIP was adopted. This project was not completed in FY25, and is being requested to be included in the FY26 budget. There are sufficient funds for the additional expenditure.
Parking Fund & City Hall Financing Fund - The City of Billings closed on the sale of old City Hall and Park 1 retail in July 2026. These funds resulted in about $2.9 million, which has always been planned to be used to pay down the borrowed amounts for the construction of new City Hall. The addition of $888,703 to the Parking Fund is a result of the transfer of cash from the sale of the Park 1 retail building (a Parking asset) to the City Hall Financing Fund. The addition of $2.9 million to the City Hall Financing Fund will allow for the prepayment of borrowed funds that was not originally included in the FY26 preliminary budget.
ALTERNATIVES
City Council may:
- Approve; or,
- Amend and Approve; or,
- Not Approve the resolution. If not approved, direction to staff is needed so that a final budget for FY26 can be brought back to Council for future consideration.
FISCAL EFFECTS
Approval of this resolution will establish the adopted budget for FY26 at $421,973,127, an increase of $4,105,720 from the preliminary budget approved on June 23rd, 2025.