This article will be updated.
Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long and Mayor Aftab Pureval released the first draft of the next city budget Friday. It is now up to City Council to approve a final version by the end of June.
This is the first fiscal year in five years without federal stimulus funding. That means it's the first time this administration and Council have to address a budget deficit — in this case, $10.2 million — without an easy solution.
"Closing a deficit is never easy, and I feel the reductions we've made are both manageable and fair," Long said in a statement. "Meanwhile, where we do have opportunities to spend, I believe the investments outlined here will put Cincinnati on the right path forward."
Long's budget draft includes plans to purchase 760 W. 5th St in Queensgate and convert it into a daytime center for people experiencing homelessness. The building is across the street from Shelterhouse. Long says the plan is to work with an outside organization to manage the daytime center year-round.
"The center can also serve as an emergency warming and cooling shelter on our coldest and hottest days, reducing the City's need to quickly gather resources to stand up recreation centers and other City assets for this purpose," Long said. "While we must still build out the operating partnerships, securing the necessary resources to make this project a reality is a critical step in moving it forward."
Long says a major focus of her recommended budget is the Department of Public Services, which handles things like trash pickup, snow removal, and filling potholes.
"DPS is the City team that most residents see, feel, or touch most frequently, and the department has several unique needs that are addressed in this Budget," Long said in a statement.
That includes about $750,000 for preventative maintenance pavement repair, four new positions in the department, and $600,000 for technology improvements.
Mayor Aftab Pureval is proposing an additional $11,526,000 in spending: $2 million in the capital budget, and about $9.5 million in the operating budget. In a statement to City Council, Pureval says his recommendations represent "further investments in our growth and vibrancy."
"These include supplements to our leveraged support of the neighborhood-level organizations improving residents' quality of life, resources to bolster proven community investment programs, and allocations to boost the special events and economic development efforts that will drive our future growth," Pureval said.
The mayor's choices for leveraged support (funding for outside organizations) includes some additional funding for organizations already in the city manager's recommended budget, as well as some organizations that did not apply for leveraged support funding.
It also includes funding for special events: River Roots, Black Tech Week, Asianati, and MidWest Con.
Funding sources for the mayor's additions include money City Council had promised to Sundance Film Festival if Cincinnati had been chosen to host the event, and money recently returned to the city from the Hamilton County Auditor.
See all the mayor's additions below; article continues after:
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Railway sale revenue
This is the first fiscal year the city will benefit from the voter-approved sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern. The sale of the city-owned asset was finalized over a year ago, with the $1.6 billion revenue placed in an investment trust fund. The city will receive $56 million for fiscal year 2026, more than double the amount it got under the terms of a lease to Norfolk Southern.
Long has dubbed the plan for spending the money "Cincy on Track." She says 51.4% of the funds is recommended for spending in neighborhoods with a median income below $50,000.
Combined with other sources of capital funding, Long recommends a total $80.1 million in spending on city infrastructure — far higher than the average $50 million a year over the past several years.
Spending is recommended in the following categories:
- Street rehabilitation: $18,350,000
- Bridge rehabilitation: $785,000
- Park infrastructure rehabilitation: $2,747,000
- Outdoor facilities renovation: $940,000
- Recreation facilities renovation: $2,388,000
- Traffic control device installation & renovation: $125,000
- Wall stabilization & landslide correction: $790,000
See a summary of the spending below; article continues after:
You can see a more detailed breakdown of recommended spending for railroad dollars on pages 92-100 of the capital budget draft.
Read more:
- Cincinnati's railway trust fund has grown despite tariff volatility
- Council is divided on how to spend money from the railway sale
General Fund
The operating budget includes services provided by the city, like police patrols, filling potholes, trash collection, and operating the water treatment system. It includes wages for city employees and the cost of supplies needed to deliver services.
The operating budget includes the General Fund, where City Council has the most flexibility in funding decisions.
| Department | Recommended FY26 Budget | Change from FY25 |
You can learn more about how each department spends its budget on the city's open data portal Cincy Insights:
Public Safety
The police and fire departments, combined, make up about 61% of the General Fund in the proposed FY 26 budget.
The proposed FY 26 budget includes a 3.8% increase for the CPD budget and a 4.9% increase for the CFD budget. Sworn police and fire employees are represented by labor unions and are budgeted for a 3% wage increase during this fiscal year.
CPD alone makes up about 33% of the General Fund in the budget proposal.
The police budget has increased 42% over the last 10 years, and the fire budget has increased 62%, compared to a General Fund increase of 51% during that time.
Read more:
- Crime in Cincinnati is trending down and shootings are at lowest level in 15 years
- Police chief answers community questions about police-involved shooting of Ryan Hinton
Human Services Fund
The city's Human Services Fund is administered by the United Way, which uses a competitive application process to issue grants to organizations based on Council-established priorities. Grants are awarded every two years as part of the city’s biennial budget process.
The Human Services Advisory Committee, or HSAC, reviews all applications and decides which ones to fund; their recommendations go to Council for a final vote.
The budget draft includes about $9.55 million for the fund, about 1.5% of the General Fund.
From 2004 to 2017, the city budget for the HSF did not exceed 0.8% of the General Fund. Council approved a plan in 2017 to incrementally increase the percentage for the Human Services Fund until it reached 1.5% in 2023.
Relatively new to this process is an “Impact Award,” which Council established two years ago. The goal is to provide a significant amount of funding to one project that aims to make systemic changes. The first Impact Award went to a group of organizations using data analysis to predict and prevent homelessness. The impact award for this biennial budget will focus on food insecurity.
The first Impact Award recipient received 33% of the Human Services Fund. This year, Council reduced that to 10% and distributed the remainder among other priorities:
- Impact Award: 10%
- Youth gun violence prevention and reduction: 26%
- Comprehensive workforce development: 26%
- Supporting, securing, and stabilizing housing for high-risk populations: 26%
- Project LIFT: 10%
- Overhead: 2%
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Leveraged Support
The other mechanism for funding outside organizations is leveraged support, included as direct allocations in the budget.
Leveraged support is defined as "(f)inancial support from the City of Cincinnati to an external organization (i) as general operating support to fund their work in the City or (ii) as funding for a specific program aimed at addressing a public need in the city."
This is the third year organizations have had to formally apply for funding instead of lobbying council members directly. Council established the new process to take some of the politics out of the equation.
Grants were limited to between $50,000 and $500,000, with larger awards considered for "extraordinary circumstances."
The city received 75 applications for leveraged support requesting a total $13.8 million; 22 are recommended for a total $1.6 million in funding. The full list is available in the recommended budget document (pg. 48-52 of the PDF document).
Several outside organizations do not have to apply for funding because they manage city assets or programs. Those include:
- 3CDC funding for Fountain Square, Washington Park, and Ziegler Park
- Findlay Market operating budget support
- The Port
- Women Helping Women Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT)
The city manager proposes adding several other organizations to this list for the first time, including REDI Cincinnati, Shelterhouse Volunteer Group, and the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio.
It also includes The Center for Closing the Health Gap, which has historically received $750,000 a year, far more annual funding than other human services organizations.
The recommended budget includes $539,000 for Community Councils, a slight decrease from FY 25 ($550,000) but increased from FY 24 ($425,000).
Pension Fund
Cincinnati’s pension system still has a large unfunded liability, but the future outlook has improved.
The current unfunded liability is $846 million (an increase from the previous year), and the fund is now 68.3% funded (a decrease from the previous year, and from 77% funded in 2015).
A federally mandated settlement agreement requires the city to put no less than 16.25% of active salaries into the fund each year. That's no longer enough to reach solvency by 2045, also a requirement of the agreement.
The FY 24 budget included 17% of active salaries, the first increase to the minimum contribution since 2016.
Council approved increases for the past two city budgets, contributing 17% in FY 24 and 17.75% in FY 25.
This budget recommendation increases the contribution again to 18.5% of active salaries.
Note: The Cincinnati Retirement System does not include employees of the police or fire departments; they are part of a separate statewide pension.
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How to understand the city budget
Where can I see budget information online?
Documents are published on the city website under the Finance & Budget page: Cincinnati-oh.gov/finance/budget
There are also links to prior years' recommended and approved budgets.
Why does a new budget start in July instead of January?
The city budget is based on fiscal year rather than calendar year. Fiscal year 2026 (often abbreviated as FY 26) begins July 1, 2025 and ends June 30, 2026.
Where does city income come from?
The majority of revenue comes from income taxes, also called earnings taxes. Here's the breakdown of revenue for FY 26:
- Earnings Taxes: 65.1%
- Property Taxes: 8.4%
- State Shared Revenue: 2.8%
- Casino Tax: 1.7%
- Investments: 4.4%
- Other Revenues: 17.3%*
* Includes: license and permit fees; admission taxes; short-term rental excise taxes; buildings and inspections fees and permits, etc.
The current city income tax is 1.8% of gross earnings and the revenue is divided into three categories:
- 1.55% for the General Fund
- 0.15% for permanent improvements (capital)
- 0.1% for maintenance of city infrastructure
The most significant change to city revenue in recent years is a reduction in the Local Government Fund (state shared revenue). The state imposed cuts to this fund about a decade ago; the amount allocated to Cincinnati in calendar year 2024 (about $15.5 million) is a 62% reduction compared to 2011 ($40.7 million).
What makes up most of the budget?
Of the General Fund, 80.8% goes to personnel and benefits. And, 83.4% of city employees are represented by labor contracts negotiated with a union.
Who decides how to spend taxpayer money?
The process begins with City Manager Sheryl Long, who worked with her team to prepare the first draft of a budget. That draft is passed along to Mayor Aftab Pureval, who has the option to make any changes before it goes to council.
Council has ultimate authority over the budget and must reach a majority agreement (five of nine council members) to approve the spending plan.
How does a biennial budget work?
The city budget technically covers two years at a time, but council still votes to approve funds every year.
This year, council will vote on a budget for fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027. Next year, council will vote on a "budget update" to account for differences in actual revenue compared to expected revenue. Practically speaking, however, significant changes are typical in a budget update year.
What's the difference between operating and capital budgets?
The operating budget includes the services provided by the city, like police patrols, filling potholes, trash collection and operating the water treatment system. It includes wages for city employees and the cost of supplies needed to deliver services. The operating budget includes the General Fund, where City Council has the most flexibility in funding decisions.
General Fund dollars can be used for capital projects, but capital dollars cannot be used for operating expenses.
The capital budget covers purchasing or improving city assets like buildings and vehicles. It includes assets that cost at least $10,000 and last at least five years. The capital budget includes some cash and some borrowing.
The overall capital budget for FY 26 is about $722.2 million, which includes restricted funds like Metropolitan Sewer District capital improvements, the convention center and stormwater management.
The city can also take on debt for capital projects, but the amount of debt is limited by the amount of revenue expected from taxes — the city has to bring in enough money to make payments on the debt. If the city wanted to take on more debt for capital projects, council would have to approve an increase in taxes. Right now, the city issues bonds based on property taxes.
The city can't issue bonds on assets not owned by the city; that also applies to city-owned buildings with long-term leases like Music Hall's 100-year lease. Playhouse in the Park is another example of a city-owned building that can't use bonded capital for improvements because of long-term use agreements.
Where can I learn more?
