Mayor warns of hidden $8M deficit, $12M structural gap and 2033 debt cliff

Mayor Devlin delivered a midyear financial briefing noting that, while the city's cash position remains stable and pension underfunding has been largely addressed, accounting adjustments revealed a hidden $8,000,000 deficit for 2026. The mayor said removal of one-time funds creates an additional roughly $4,000,000 shortfall for 2027, leaving a structural gap the administration estimated at about $12,000,000.

The mayor described the origin of the 2026 shortfall as the treatment of restricted pension funds that were previously shown as general fund revenue, saying, "the 2026 budget included a, quote, unquote, hidden deficit of $8,000,000 due to the classification of pension revenue and expenditures." She warned of a longer-term financing issue, a debt-service cliff in 2033 that would raise debt service from about $5,200,000 in 2032 to roughly $10,300,000 in 2033 and remain at that level until 2039.

To address the immediate shortfall, the mayor recapped a three-part plan: a review of departmental expenditures, immediate spending cuts and elimination of some positions where possible, and seeking revenue support from business and nonprofit partners. She said preliminary actions already reduced the projected deficit for this year to about $5,200,000 and that the administration expects PFM's further recommendations within two to three weeks to guide 2027 budget decisions.