Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno’s office has released its annual budget proposal – one just shy of a billion dollars.
Filed amid uncertainty over the U.S. economy and federal funding, Sarno says this year’s $985.7 million budget packs no layoffs or cuts to core services.
“This is not as exciting as the announcement of the new pope, but it is the announcement of the new FY26 budget,” Sarno said at city hall Thursday, presenting his budget at the same time outlets reported on Cardinal Robert Prevost becoming Pope Leo XIV.
Streamed by Focus Springfield, the mayor and city department heads gathered for the budget’s unveiling - a 6.1 percent spending increase compared to last year's budget. Like the last budget, about two-thirds is intended for Springfield Public Schools, accounting for about $670 million - an almost 7 percent year-over-year increase.
The rest, over $315 million, is intended for city-side spending, marking a 4.7 percent increase.
Sarno brags the budget does not rely on Stabilization “Rainy Day” Reserve Funds.
“A testament to our fiscal strength and discipline: the FY26 budget is balanced for the 11th consecutive year without the use of any stabilization funds,” he said. “That's unheard of when it comes to… urban city management."
The budget proposal came together as the city continues to learn of federal grants and funding being withdrawn – whether it was $47 million in school-related COVID funding being clawed back - which the state is now assisting the city with - or more recently, the termination of $20 million in EPA climate justice grants previously awarded late last year.
Sarno says such uncertainty has led to the city taking a “cautious approach" when crafting a spending plan. It factors into plans to withdraw $2 million from the city’s “Pension Reserve” fund to help offset rising pension costs, which increased by $5.5 million from FY25, according to the mayor’s office.
The city is also seeing a decline when it comes to its overall “full-time equivalent (FTE) employee count,” Sarno says, after his office and department heads “made adjustments where possible to rosters in order to eliminate or reduce vacancies.”
“[For the] first time since FY13 … we decreased full-time positions by almost about 14, but we’re not facing any layoffs, we're not cutting any services - it's extremely tight right now because of the economic uncertainty,” the mayor said. “We have non-discretionary costs, fixed-costs that, no matter what, we have to pay for, that continue to go up.”
The city says that, overall, “departmental ‘Other Than Personal Services,’” or OTPS budgets, are level-funded.
Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Cathy Buono says that’s thanks, in-part, to city departments, that were tasked with finding ways to trim as much as 3 percent of their spending needs.
“… we asked you to cut 3 percent off of your budgets - you did that. I just want to thank the department heads because we wouldn't have a balanced budget without you,” the city’s CAFO said. “I ask that you come prepared for the city council hearings and let them know that you have done your cuts, you've made your adjustments, and any further cuts would affect city services and let them know what those services would be because we have to make sure everyone understands that.”
As is custom, the spending plan will now go before the city council for review.
