Mayor Robert Restaino will submit his proposed 2027 city budget at a special meeting of the City Council on Nov. 2.
The meeting to unveil the spending plan will take place at 5 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall. The mayor traditionally releases his budget documents and makes brief comments about the proposal.
He does not typically take questions from council members or the public. Public speakers are not permitted at special meetings of the council.
City Council Chair Brian Archie (D) has proposed a schedule for the council’s budget review. The schedule calls for a public hearing on the executive budget at 5 p.m. Nov. 6 in the council chambers.
The council resolution setting the budget review schedule also calls for the mayor, city administrator, director of finance and “such other personnel as the mayor may deem necessary” to be present for the hearing.
Council hearings on the budget proposal will be held after the public hearing on Nov. 6 and at 5 p.m. in the council chambers on Nov. 13 and 20. A council meeting to consider budget amendments will be held at 5 p.m. on Nov. 24.
That will trigger a five-day window for the mayor to accept or veto any changes to his proposed budget. The City Charter requires the upcoming year’s budget to be finalized by Dec. 1.
The council approved the budget review schedule at its Wednesday meeting.
Recent city budgets have seen small property tax increases, but those increases have been under the state’s 2% property tax cap.
The 2026 city budget totaled $103,554,690 and included just over a 1% increase in property taxes. The spending plan was just under $2 million more than the 2025 budget.
The mayor has said that the recent budget increase has been largely driven by the rising cost of health benefits and state pension contributions for city employees. Personnel costs represent more than 60% of city spending.
In the six years of the Restaino administration, Homestead and Non-Homestead property taxes have averaged an annual 1% increase.