Cincinnati City Council finalized the next city budget Wednesday, emphasizing increased funding for public services like filling potholes and snow removal.
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.
It's also the first budget cycle the city can spend revenue from the sale of the city-owned Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern.
"The fact that we are able to balance our finances this year without [American Rescue Plan] dollars, while still investing in our core priorities, is the product of an administration that was not just ready for this moment, but did the long-term planning for this moment," said Mayor Aftab Pureval.
Council's vote is the final step in a months-long process that begins with City Manager Long. Mayor Pureval recommended several additions, and Council made minor changes plus additional spending.
City Manager Sheryl Long's recommended budget included 2% cuts to most departments, with separate funding for one-time projects or grants coming from one-time revenue sources, such as money previously allocated for the Sundance Film Festival if Cincinnati had been chosen to host the event, and money recently returned to the city from the Hamilton County Auditor.
Check out highlights from this fiscal year budget, or jump to How to Understand the City Budget:
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:
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.
"These have been direly needed resources to combat our long-standing deferred capital maintenance — the roads, bridges, public spaces, and city facilities that have been underfunded for far too long," Mayor Pureval said. "We are investing in historically underserved neighborhoods, and we are back on the path to building a Cincinnati where all residents have the infrastructure they deserve."
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.
Spending is divided among 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 and landslide correction: $790,000
An online public dashboard will eventually track all the projects funded through Cincy on Track using the railway dollars. Projects are added to the dashboard once under contract.
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.
Learn more here: All the infrastructure Cincinnati could spend railway revenue on
Read more:
- Cincinnati's railway trust fund has grown despite tariff volatility
- Railway trust fund board launches revamped website
Public safety
The budget includes three recruit classes for the police department and two for the fire department. Council also directed the administration to prioritize a lateral police class for officers moving to CPD from another police agency.
The police and fire departments, combined, make up about 61% of the General Fund in the proposed FY 26 budget.
The 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.
Council added $100,000 to support the city's Act for Cincy (Achieving Change Together for Cincinnati) violence reduction blueprint.
"I'm really excited to have funding in here specifically to support those initiatives, especially as we think about the action teams that have been formed around some of those initiatives," Council member Anna Albi said.
Those action teams include trauma-informed care, secure firearm storage, mental health, and more.
Council added funding to two competitive grant programs:
Boots on the Ground is aimed at funding small, grassroots organizations with operating budgets of less than $1 million. This grant fund is managed by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. Council added $152,061 to the city manager's recommended $147,000 and the mayor's recommended $250,000 for a total $549,061.
Safe and Clean supports community-based and community-initiated efforts to improve neighborhood safety, eliminate blight, and increase livability. This grant fund is managed by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful. Council added $152,060 to the city manager's recommended $147,000 and the mayor's recommended $250,000 for a total $549,060.
Public services
Officials say a major focus of this 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 when she introduced her budget draft last month.
The budget includes four new positions for the department, about $750,000 for preventative maintenance pavement repair, and $600,000 for technology improvements.
City vehicles
City Council added $1 million for replacing outdated city vehicles. That makes this fiscal year's fleet budget $11.6 million, which is still less than last year:
| Fiscal Year | Fleet Replacement Budget |
| 2021 | $4,570,000 |
| 2022 | $10,484,000 |
| 2023 | $5,702,000 |
| 2024 | $8,736,000 |
| 2025 | $13,123,000 |
| 2026 | $11,626,000 |
The city fleet includes 2,623 vehicles across all departments, including police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, mowers, garbage trucks, and snow plows.
A city vehicle is considered out of lifecycle if it meets two of three criteria related to age, mileage, and maintenance costs. Lack of sufficient funding, however, means the city is only working to replace vehicles that meet all three criteria.
As of April, 127 meet all three criteria and do not already have a replacement on order. The cost to replace them all is estimated at $17.4 million, meaning there's still a $5.8 million gap after the fiscal year 2026 allocation.
An additional 331 vehicles meet two of the three criteria with an estimated replacement cost of $42.5 million.
Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney put forward a motion to not put any additional funding toward fleet, and instead allocate it to several outside organizations. Her motion failed 2-7 with Scotty Johnson joining her in support.
Other areas of the budget that will benefit fleet, including money to upgrade snowplows and $4 million to renovate the fleet services garage, using some of the revenue from the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway.
Pension system
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 being 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.
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?
