Southfield council adopts $248 million 2026–27 budget; sanitation fee rises $6

The City of Southfield Council voted unanimously to adopt the 2026–27 municipal budget after a presentation by Austin, the director, who outlined revenues, expenditures and capital projects.

Austin said the city's combined general fund revenues are proposed at "just under $112 million," and total all-funds revenues are proposed at about $248 million. He told the council that property taxes remain the largest revenue source, representing roughly 62% of the general fund, and noted a projected taxable value of just over $3.3 billion, a $131 million increase over the current fiscal year.

The director explained the proposed mill rate increased by "just under a mill," which he attributed primarily to a rise in police and fire pension rates offset in part by Headlee rollbacks across other levies. He also reported a roughly 2% decrease in state-shared revenues compared with the current year and said the FY27 budget does not rely on unrestricted fund balance; the city's unassigned fund balance was listed as $18,786,647 as of the June 30, 2025 audit.

On rates, Austin described a multi-year plan intended to keep water and sewer increases low and said the presentation reflected a 1.5% planned increase carried across water and sewer charges; the sanitation (weekly garbage) rate was shown to rise $6 per household for the year, approximately 2.3%, equal to about $5.17 per week.

The budget allocates the largest share of general fund expenditures to public safety (about $64 million or 57% of general fund expenditures) and preserves funding for capital projects, including local street work (Magnolia and North Gardens), major street projects (Lincoln, Inkster, 10 Mile Road and segments of Southfield Road) and water-main replacements and lining totaling millions across funds.

Council members pressed staff on several points during a question-and-answer period. A councilmember asked why parks and recreation were not drawing on fund balance this year; Austin said parks had recently drawn approximately $14.5 million over the last two years for capital projects and that staff are pursuing outside funding and may return to council to request adjustments next fiscal year. When asked whether Southfield's water rates are lower than neighboring communities, Austin said he had not completed a comparative analysis but had heard the city's rates were lower.

During the required public hearing, Kathleen McNellis of Southfield asked whether the council's taxable-value recovery target referred to 2009 dollars; the director confirmed the reference was to 2009 dollars.

Councilman Mandelbaum moved to adopt the 2026–27 City of Southfield budget; the motion was seconded by Council President Pro Tem Hoag. The council responded "Aye" on a voice vote with no opposition, and the chair declared the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 5:59 p.m.

The budget materials presented to the council list proposed revenues and expenditures, capital projects, and staffing counts; staff indicated any future uses of fund balance for parks projects would return to the council for approval.