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Salisbury FY27 budget rollout

Salisbury · Issue Tracker · 2026-04-14 · last checked last week

Summary

The budget was adopted. The council passed Ordinance 2999 on June 8, 2026, and the mayor approved it on June 9. It covers the year from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. It was introduced on May 11 and had its public hearing on May 26.

Adopted rates: $1.0332 per $100 on real property, $3.51 on utility personal property, and $2.40 on other taxable personal property.

The ordinance keeps the proposed figures struck through beside the final ones, so what the council changed is visible. Police rose from $20,140,680 to $21,601,513 — the largest single change, and notable given that the year's labour argument was about police retention. Fire rose from $15,759,944 to $15,899,146. Field Operations fell from $8,846,544 to $8,263,239.

The General Fund went from $62,910,110 to $63,926,839, and the operating funds altogether from $87,824,895 to $88,841,624 — a net increase of $1,016,729 over what was introduced. The parking, water and sewer, marina and storm water totals were adopted unchanged.

Water and sewer rates were handled separately, in Ordinance 3000, rather than in the budget ordinance.

The rest of this page describes the cycle as it stood in April, which is what the council started from.

Salisbury is entering its FY27 budget cycle with major questions about recurring operating costs, wage pressure, insurance increases, and how much longer the city can rely on savings to support ongoing expenses.

As of mid-April 2026, the city has publicly posted the FY27 budget schedule and the FY27-FY31 Capital Improvement Plan. The full proposed FY27 operating budget is scheduled for formal submission on April 15, 2026 and public presentation on April 27, 2026.

The budget debate is closely connected to broader city disputes over labor policy, public safety staffing, capital spending, development, and long-term fiscal sustainability.

Background

In his April 11, 2026 letter to taxpayers, Mayor Randy Taylor argued that Salisbury’s operating costs are rising faster than recurring revenues and that the city cannot continue funding recurring costs from one-time savings.

He said the city is projected to draw $3.3 million from savings to cover recurring FY26 operating expenses. He also outlined major cost pressure in the coming budget year, including a $1 million increase in health insurance, around $200,000 in utilities, and $250,000 in other unavoidable costs, before broader wage questions are addressed.

Separate from the annual operating budget, the city has already published its FY27-FY31 Capital Improvement Plan. That document lays out the city’s five-year capital planning framework and includes departmental project requests and funding assumptions for FY27 and beyond.

Timeline

  • February 2026: The city published its FY27-FY31 Capital Improvement Plan, laying out project planning and funding assumptions for the next five years.

  • April 11, 2026: Mayor Randy Taylor published a public budget-related letter to taxpayers explaining the city’s financial position and defending a more restrictive fiscal approach.

  • April 15, 2026: The city’s posted FY27 budget schedule lists this as the due date for the mayor’s proposed budget.

  • April 27, 2026: The posted schedule says the mayor’s proposed budget will be presented at a council work session.

  • April 29-30, 2026: Council budget work sessions are scheduled for deeper discussion.

  • May 11, 2026: FY27 budget first reading scheduled.

  • May 26, 2026: FY27 budget public hearing scheduled.

  • June 8, 2026: FY27 budget second reading scheduled.

  • May 11, 2026: Ordinance 2999, the FY27 budget, is introduced.
  • May 26, 2026: Public hearing on the budget ordinance.
  • June 8, 2026: The council passes Ordinance 2999.
  • June 9, 2026: The mayor approves it.
  • July 1, 2026: FY27 begins.

Watch Next

The adoption is settled. What is left is what it means in practice.

  • Police staffing. The council added roughly $1.46 million to the police budget between introduction and adoption, in a year whose central argument was about retention. Whether that money translates into officers retained or hired is the question the budget cannot answer by itself.
  • Field Operations, which was cut by roughly $583,000 from the introduced figure, and what that reduces.
  • Water and sewer rates under Ordinance 3000, which moved separately.
  • Whether the structural gap the administration described — recurring costs supported partly from savings — narrows or widens over FY27.
  • The collective bargaining referendum, now scheduled for November 2027, which was argued through this budget and remains unresolved.

Related Meetings

Sources