Boise proposes a $1.2 billion FY2027 budget, recommends 2.7% levy increase and refers package to public hearing

Boise officials on June 16 presented the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget and asked the City Council to send the plan, fee updates and capital recommendations to a public hearing on July 14.

"We're not proposing we take foregone or the 3% but instead we've dropped it down to 2.7% total," the mayor said, introducing the budget presentation and emphasizing a three-part goal: ease pressure on residents, maintain services as the city grows, and protect long-term community investments.

Alicia, the staff presenter, told council the proposed total budget is roughly $1.2 billion, with a general fund of about $347.8 million and more than 2,000 full-time equivalent positions citywide. She said the budget is framed around three core principles: align priorities with a multi-year investment plan, maintain current service levels and preserve future flexibility.

"This budget was built on three core principles," Alicia said, describing the approach to personnel, operating and capital needs. Staff proposes a 3% general salary increase, 0.5% targeted market adjustments where needed and a 1% one-time "flex rewards" payment; the budget would eliminate the annual one-time performance pay to afford those changes.

The package relies on several revenue assumptions and tools. Property tax is the largest general-fund source, and staff recommended a 2.7% base increase (below the 3% cap). Alicia said state House Bill 389 reduces how much of new construction value the city can claim, costing Boise roughly $325,000 this year; a separate sunset of a Westside urban renewal district reduces base funding by about $280,000—about $600,000 collectively—and she estimated a cumulative $9.2 million reduction to Boise's tax base to date from HB 389.

Development-fee revenue has been unusually strong, Alicia said: "It's been averaging about $3 million per month," driven by large projects including Micron and hospital expansions. Those development fees are restricted for use on growth-related capital and are expected to decline as current projects wrap up, staff said.

The proposed capital program and repairs package include a 32% increase in major repairs and maintenance funding and targeted seed funding for a West Boise library access project. Staff identified $1.5 million in FY27 for rehabilitation of the City Hall annex garage and listed other capital priorities, including projects funded by impact fees and a $3.7 million allocation toward the enterprise resource planning (ERP) project.

Council members questioned the distributional effects of the levy and the trade-off between taking 2.7% versus the full 3%. Staff provided illustrative calculations in the budget book (pages 94–95), showing the average Boise homeowner would pay about $9.39 more under the 2.7% proposal and about $14.11 more under a full 3% levy. Staff and council estimated the additional 0.3 percentage point (3% vs. 2.7%) would raise roughly $600,000 in additional city revenue—about $4.72 per average household annually.

Council also pressed staff on the durability of roughly $20.5 million in fee-for-service public-safety contracts (airport policing, Boise State University and fire district partnerships). The police chief said the airport and Boise State contracts are not expected to go away; Boise State creating its own campus police would require legislative change. Fire contracts with neighboring districts are longstanding, but staff said they are in active conversations to maintain those partnerships.

On staffing, Alicia said the FY27 general-fund budget proposes nine new FTEs (many revenue-supported) and 16 enterprise/special-revenue positions, including 10 tied to airport construction. The budget includes a one-time three-year match of about $671,000 to support a SAFER federal grant application that would add nine firefighters if the grant is awarded.

The fee schedule in the proposed budget shows 1,483 fees: about 1,100 increased, 75 eliminated and 37 new. Departments were directed to a 3.5% minimum increase to keep fees aligned with personnel and operating cost growth. Staff also highlighted larger utility proposals: water renewal at 9.9% and residential solid waste at about 9.5%.

Council took five motions to refer elements of the proposed budget to the July 14 public hearing—staffing changes, user fee adjustments, contingency allocations (corrected to FY2027), major equipment/repair/capital recommendations and the remaining budget amounts. Each motion was seconded and carried by unanimous roll-call votes.

The council recessed the work session to convene the noon council meeting and will take public testimony at the July 14 hearing before deciding on final adoption later in the summer.

Next steps: the budget will be publicly noticed for a July 14 hearing; the council expects final adoption on Aug. 25 if scheduled timelines hold.