Latest news with #budget2026
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Council expands list of municipal service reductions considered for budget savings
Council has directed city staff to prepare three additional business cases about potential service reductions for consideration during 2026 budget deliberations
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Municipal service reductions being considered
Municipal service reductions being considered Council has directed city staff to prepare three additional business cases about potential service reductions for consideration during 2026 budget deliberations
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Knox County budget plan includes pay and equipment upgrades for Knox County Sheriff's Office
Knox County property taxes will stay the same in fiscal year 2026, pushing Mayor Glenn Jacobs closer to finishing eight years in office without a tax hike. Jacobs at his May 5 budget address announced plans for extra pay and equipment upgrades for the sheriff's office, and cited the Knox County Schools budget amount as requested by the superintendent. 'These are funds that pay for our teachers, our custodians, school security officers, and other essential staff who show up every day to serve nearly 60,000 students,' Jacobs said of the schools portion of budget. The proposed county budget is around $1.1 billion, roughly 3% higher than this year's budget, according to a press release from the county. Nearly two thirds of the spending is for KCS. County employees, including officers in the Knox County Sheriff's Office, would receive scheduled cost of living raises plus an additional 1% raise under the proposal, totaling 2% salary increases this year. 'I wish I could match what we have been able to do these past five years but, unfortunately, our finances are tight,' Jacobs said. 'Just like the private sector, and all of us here today, local governments are subject to inflation. So, putting together a fiscally responsible budget is harder than ever.' The budget includes $5 million in increased funding for the Knox County Sheriff's Office to pay for overtime, funding for officers' pensions, raises, increased contract costs, new body cameras, new tasers and new vehicles. 'It is tough to be in law enforcement,' Jacobs said. 'I think I speak for everyone here when I say how grateful we are to our deputies, how much we appreciate them and will always support them.' Other Knox County budget highlights include: Money for KCS building projects in Farragut and South Knoxville Money for the final phase of the Schaad Road extension, linking Oak Ridge Highway to Pleasant Ridge Road Money for improvements to Canton Hollow Road and the Marietta Church roundabout The Knox County Commission must vote on the budget by June 30. Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County budget plan includes pay and equipment upgrades for KCSO
CBC
08-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Regional councillors ask staff to cap any tax levy increase in 2026 to 5%
Regional councillors are starting to prepare for 2026 budget talks and as part of that they debated whether they should direct staff to cap any property tax increases to five per cent. Ultimately, they opted to pass a motion brought forward by Coun. Michael Harris during the administration and finance committee on Wednesday. Harris said he wanted to ask staff to keep to a five per cent cap because people across the region are facing significant financial pressures, including the rising cost of housing, food and other essentials. He said the region "has a responsibility" to be fiscally prudent while delivering services people need. "I think that this sends clarity to staff to obviously get to work over the course of the summer leading into budget with that number in mind," Harris said during the meeting. He said ultimately, it would be up to council during the budget process to go over that threshold if necessary. "I hope that we can deliver a budget to our community that's in and around that range at the very least. But ultimately, we know that come budget day, it's in all of our hands," Harris said. Coun. Colleen James said she supported the move because it would offer staff "a starting point" for preparing budget documents. "I'm also extremely conscious of the economy and the state that we are in with a significant amount of layoffs and potential job losses," James said. "I think that there are a lot of people in this region that are just staying above water … and our actions ahead of time will show the residents and those taxpayers that we're mindful of the situation." Council tried capping 2025 budget at 8% Coun. Chantal Huinink noted regional council passed a similar motion in 2024 to put an eight per cent cap on the budget "and we didn't make that." In December, regional council passed the 2025 budget that saw a 9.48 per cent increase to the regional portion of property taxes. "Economic times haven't gotten any easier for service providers than they've gotten for residents and so I'm just curious as to if you've had conversations with staff regarding how feasible this is," Huinink said. Wayne Steffler, the region's commissioner of corporate services and chief financial officer, said a five per cent cap would be "challenging but achievable." "Just to clarify a bit further, this is directing staff to prepare and present it, but that doesn't prohibit council from approving a higher rate for the budget or the levy increase if they wanted," he said. Coun. Doug Craig said he wants to see the budget increase remain at five per cent or lower and "that's where I'm going to stay during the budget discussion." "I think we've got to get tough on this," Craig said. Councillors Pam Wolf and Huinink were opposed to the motion and Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic was absent for the vote. Budget discussions are set to begin in October with community consultations in November. If all goes according to plan, the 2026 budget would be approved on Dec. 10.
E&E News
07-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Senate Democrats bash USDA chief over worker cuts
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended her agency's deep staff reductions Tuesday in her first appearance before a congressional committee since being confirmed to lead the Department of Agriculture. Testifying to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on the administration's fiscal 2026 budget outline, Rollins compared the 15,000 employees who have taken a deferred resignation offer to those who would normally leave the agency every year through attrition. That analysis didn't sit well with a top Democratic lawmaker. Advertisement 'We're making things more efficient,' Rollins told Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Appropriations chair, who asked why the USDA let so many workers go that it's now looking to refill some positions. Annual attrition is typically between 8,000 and 10,000, Rollins said.
