Hills Lake commission approves preliminary 2027 general fund budget amid shortfall concerns

The Hills Lake City Commission voted to approve the preliminary 2027 general-fund budget during a special meeting, while directing staff to continue refining revenue and expense projections over the next two months. Commissioners recorded a unanimous roll-call of ‘Aye’ in the transcript as the motion passed.

Rob (speaker 2), who presented the revised numbers, said general property-tax revenue projections rose modestly to $1,917,862 from $1,901,704 and detailed other adjustments. Rob noted the Law Enforcement Center portion increased from $510,000 to $703,000, and that the overall bottom-line shortfall after changes stood at about $390,272. “The LEC went from 510,000 to 703,000,” Rob said during his presentation.

Commissioners discussed options for the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and other cuts; staff modeled 0%, 2% and 3% scenarios. Rob said setting the COLA at 0% produced a net savings of $140,664 compared with earlier projections. Mayor (speaker 1) cautioned about affordability, noting the city and county already faced a roughly $200,000 gap: “we're already in dire straits of 200,000 over without even having your budget here,” the mayor said.

As part of the action, the commission also agreed to set a public hearing on the budget in September so constituents can comment before final approval. The commission asked staff to return with updated enterprise-account details, fee proposals and clearer assumptions on pending contracts that could affect final revenues.