By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
Salina Commissioners have approved the 2026 budget for the city after a city commission meeting on Monday.
During the city commission meeting, Director, Finance and Administrator Debbie Pack reviewed the process of the 2026 proposed budget, before Commissioners made a decision.
On June 23rd the city commission directed staff to prepare the 2026 budget using the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR) of 28.568. This rate is a reduction of .849 mills from the City’s current mill levy rate of 29.417.
The RNR is the property tax rate that would generate the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year, using the current year's total assessed valuation.
The final proposed 2026 budget excluding transfers and cash reserves includes total expenditures of $155,959,033. The comparable amount for 2025 was $151,892,094.
The overall 2026 budget is about 2.7% higher than the adopted 2025 budget.
Interim City Manager Jacob Wood talked about the proposed budget is not a 'dramatic increase from the prior years' and the 'baseline for the budget was to allow increases in pay for employees.'
"The baseline for the budget was to allow employee increase in pay, but we really held the line in just about everything else as far as operational costs," said Wood. "This is not a dramatic increase from the prior years. I have been working with the City just over six years, and I think this is just about as smooth as the budget process has gone in my tenure here."
Commissioner Mike Hoppock responded to the public after comments were made.
"We make decisions hoping to bring individuals outside of Salina and into the community," said Hoppock. "I am a big believer in sales tax versus property tax, because I like someone from out of county helping us pave our roads."
Hoppock stated that the sales tax has been 'going up' and that it is a testament about the good things that are happening in the community.
"I cannot argue whether the population is going up or down, all I can tell you is we continue to build homes and they continue to be filled," he said. "Our sales tax is increasing, which I think talks well about what is going on in our community."
He also mentioned the most recent established $23 million, 90,000 sq. foot retail seed/agricultural facility by Beck's Hybrids, will go into the 'tax roles' in the future.
"This commission along with the commission before us, made alot of what of, what I consider good decisions that have got us to where we are at now," said Hoppock. "I think our budget is balanced and I think we have done a good job at getting it where we need it to be."
Salina commissioners voted to adopt and appropriate the 2026 annual budget, along with adopting the 2026 Comprehensive Fee Schedule.