By GAGE WILSON
For Glasgow News 1
The Glasgow Finance Committee approved a tentative $29.2 million budget Thursday that projects a surplus of roughly $1.1 million for fiscal year 2026-27.
The budget will now move to the Glasgow City Council, where it must receive two readings before being adopted as an ordinance governing city spending for the upcoming fiscal year.
Councilman Terry Bunnell explained that the budget serves as both a financial forecast and a planning tool for city departments, comparing it to the budgets used by businesses and households.
“It is also used as a planning tool that the city employees can use to see dollars allocated to their departments, what they can and cannot spend,” he said. “The good thing about our budget is that it is year to year, so a department may have expenditures one year, and then next year they no longer have those expenditures.”
He added that because the budget is passed as an ordinance, any future adjustments must be approved by the council before changes can be made.
The ending surplus figure reflects projected general revenues of $29.2 million against expenses totaling $28.1 million.
While municipalities generally seek to maintain a surplus, Bunnell cautioned that the final figure could fluctuate depending on unforeseen expenses and adjustments throughout the year.
The proposed budget spans more than 150 pages and outlines anticipated revenues and expenditures across all city departments.
“Overall this year’s budget is smaller compared to last year’s,” Bunnell said. “Some of this budget is flat in several areas because we don’t have some grants going through or we don’t have some expenditures coming through.”
Parks and Recreation is projected to generate approximately $129,000 in revenue through fees, programs and concessions, a significant decrease from last year’s $2.1 million. Bunnell explained that the difference stems largely from bond funds included in the previous budget.
Discussion then turned to the city’s recently opened aquatics center, which committee members praised for its strong attendance since opening over Memorial Day weekend.
Mayor Henry Royse said that if current attendance trends continue, the facility may be able to make its annual bond payment entirely through gate receipts. According to Bunnell, those bond payments total approximately $395,000 annually.
Several departments, particularly those tied to public safety, transportation and administration, generate little or no direct revenue due to the nature of their services.
Bunnell said operational staffing expenses have changed little from the previous year, with payroll projected at approximately $1.1 million. The budget also includes a 2.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment for employees.
The city’s legislative body is expected to cost roughly $92,000, covering payroll, materials and legal services.
Bunnell then moved to the Glasgow Police Department, noting that the city expects to receive approximately $155,000 in reimbursements for providing school resource officers. Even with that revenue, the department is projected to cost the city roughly $5.4 million.
“They bring in some revenue, but that is what it’s costing us to have a police department,” he said.
Discussion of the Glasgow Fire Department followed a similar theme. Bunnell noted that aside from occasional surplus equipment sales, the department does not generate significant revenue. Staffing costs alone are projected at approximately $4 million.
The figure drew a question from Councilman James “Happy” Neal, who remarked that the payroll expense appeared high. Treasurer Victoria Simmons explained that firefighters’ schedules require substantial overtime coverage spread among more than 40 employees.
“Payroll will not go down,” Bunnell added.
The department’s total projected cost is approximately $4.4 million. Bunnell pointed out that the figure is nearly $1 million lower than last year’s budget because the city is not planning to purchase a new fire truck this fiscal year.
Public transit is projected to incur roughly $1 million in expenses for payroll, fuel and maintenance of the city’s two buses.
Conversation later shifted to entertainment and operations at the Plaza Theatre.
“To operate the Plaza, and this is no different from years past, we’ll be transferring money,” Bunnell said. “From the landfill, we are forecasting to move $200,000.”
Even after the transfer, the Plaza is projected to operate at a loss of approximately $53,000 during the upcoming fiscal year.
Neal questioned the need for the transfer if the theater was still expected to finish the year in the red.
“Don’t think of it as losing that money coming from the landfill, you’re just reappropriating that,” Bunnell explained. “We don’t have enough receipts that come through the Plaza, ticket sales or concessions, to keep the doors open.”
Lowery, who serves on the Plaza’s Advisory Board, said rising entertainment costs have made it increasingly difficult to balance attracting performers with maintaining financial stability.
“We are working on it, we got a lot of things going,” she said. “We’re having a lot of hard conversations right now.”
The city’s sanitation department provided one of the brighter financial outlooks in the budget, with a projected surplus of approximately $285,000. The landfill is expected to finish the fiscal year with a surplus of roughly $804,000.
The committee unanimously agreed to recommend the budget for council consideration. If approved by the city council, the budget will take effect July 1.
“It’s fortunate for us that we can use this surplus to recoup,” he said. “To build our cash back and get ready for the next major purchase.”
The meeting concluded with praise for the department heads who worked alongside city staff throughout the budgeting process.
“They are very engaged,” Royse said. “They were all very interested in their part in what they do as effective, and with the right number of people and right amount of money they have to spend on things that need to be done.”
Key facts:
• Glasgow Finance Committee approved a tentative $29.2 million budget for fiscal 2026-27
• Budget projects roughly a $1.1 million surplus, officials said
• Police and fire remain among the city’s largest expenses
• Sanitation and landfill are projected to post healthy surpluses
• Plaza Theatre still expected to operate at a loss despite a $200,000 transfer
• Budget now goes to the full city council for two readings before June 30
