Finance committee chair Randolph warns of roughly $5.5 million 2027 general-fund gap; monthly briefings set

Finance Committee Chair Randolph opened a monthly series of budget briefings by telling members the city faces a structural general-fund shortfall of roughly $5,000,000–$5,500,000 for the 2027 budget cycle and that the meetings are intended to surface trade‑offs rather than make final decisions. "We're facing that $5,000,000 funding gap," Chair Randolph said as the committee moved into a budget '101' preview.

Finance Director Nina Salinas and City Budget Manager Missy Harold presented the department's high-level framing and timeline. Salinas said the city has identified five strategic priorities — housing at all income levels, growing the commercial tax base, streets and utilities, downtown, and affordable property taxes — and described the monthly meeting set-up to inform the council ahead of formal budget decisions. "Our goal will be to provide as much information as possible so that we can make well informed decisions not only for this 2027 budget cycle, but for the coming years as well," Salinas said.

Staff gave the committee the following figures and context: the total city budget for 2026 is $519,300,000; the general-fund revenue budget was roughly $113,200,000 in 2026; salaries, benefits and retiree insurance make up about 83% of general-fund expenses; and the finance team expects a general-fund deficit in the neighborhood of $5,500,000 if no changes are made. "The deficit that we've been talking about, the $5,500,000, is in the general fund," Salinas said.

Harold walked through the calendar for the budget process: mayoral deficit-guidance in May, department deep dives June–August, a tentative mayoral levy and budget presentation to the finance committee (Aug. 24), a full budget retreat on Sept. 11 and final levy approvals and the truth-in-taxation public hearing in December. She noted staff will update revenue assumptions with new-growth property-tax data from Saint Louis County and will model personnel and fleet costs across funds.

Councilors used the session for clarifying questions. One councilor asked whether retiree health and employee medical coverage would be reviewed in a committee of the whole; staff said collective-bargaining agreements affect those decisions and that they would provide background. Another asked what drove the 1.5% revenue projection; staff replied that a larger multiple-dwelling license cycle and pending county new‑growth estimates are primary inputs, while sales-tax growth was described as "probably increase[ing] slightly" but not yet specified.

Salinas closed by reiterating that the presentation was intended as an overview and that future sessions will include deeper dives on topics such as tourism taxes, bonds and debt financing, and TIF reviews. The committee requested paper copies of the presentation slides for note‑taking and follow-up.

The finance committee will meet monthly through the summer and fall to develop scenarios for council consideration; staff said the committee's work will culminate in the mayor's levy recommendation and the September budget retreat.