Des Moines staff present balanced biennial budget, outline cuts and new revenue options

City Manager Catherine Caffrey told the Des Moines City Council at a Sept. 12 budget workshop that staff is presenting a "balanced budget" for 2027–28 but that it relies on a mix of cuts, delayed hiring and limited new revenue assumptions. She framed the workshop as an opportunity for council direction, not a final hearing: "this is definitely not a budget hearing," Caffrey said, adding staff would return in the next six weeks with a draft and individual meetings ahead of public hearings.

Caffrey and Finance Director Jeff Friend outlined major cost pressures that created an initial gap of roughly $2 million between enhancement requests and projected revenue — primarily rising health insurance premiums (staff cited increases in the "10–16%" range that staff said equate to "roughly $350,000 just from what we paid in '26 for health care"), negotiated collective bargaining increases (about $300,000 annually across units) and higher public defender costs (projected at about $400,000 for 2026). To close the gap, staff described targeted measures: delaying the start dates for two proposed police hires, repurposing vacancies for a communications manager and a parks-and-recreation director, asking departments for 5–10% line-item reductions and using dedicated funds where appropriate.

Staff also emphasized process changes intended to reveal savings, including limited use of 0‑based budgeting in areas such as professional services and travel. Caffrey described the approach as iterative: "we asked departments to submit 5% cuts, 10% cuts" and then staff met with departments to refine requests. The presentation and revised numbers will be posted to desmoineswa.gov/budget, a preliminary budget book is due Oct. 1, and the first public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29 with adoption tentatively set for Nov. 12.