CITY OF INDEPENDENCE 2026 CITY MANAGER
COMMUNITY BUDGET CONVERSATIONS
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
WELCOME Structure of Session 1. City Budget Overview 2. Peer City Benchmarking
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3. Financial Plan 2026-2031 4. Q&A Session
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
CITY MANAGER PRESENTATION COI 2026
Budget 101 & Adopted Budget FY2026-27
BUDGET PROCESS 101
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
The Budget is both a financial plan and a policy document.
YEARLY CYCLE Planning and development of the budget begins in January each year
Community Engagement – Fall
Rest of the year spent monitoring the budget and adjusting as needed, while getting ready for next year
Several months of working with each department
Budget typically final by mid-June
Budget presented to Council in midMay
Public Hearing beginning of June
What does the City Budget Fund?
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
The City budget supports the essential services, infrastructure, and community priorities that keep our City safe, vibrant, and thriving.
PUBLIC SAFETY
COMMUNITY SERVICES
PUBLIC WORKS & INFRASTRUCTURE
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
Police, Fire, Emergency Services, 911 dispatch, municipal court, and community risk reduction
Parks & Rec, senior services, and community events
Streets, sidewalks, traffic signals, landscaping, fleet maintenance, and facilities
Business attraction, tourism, and support for a robust economy
Planning, permitting, code enforcement, and building safety
FINANCE & ADMIN.
UTILITIES
TRANSIT
Financial management, human resources, technology, and general government operations
Water, sewer, power
Public transit, mobility options, and traffic management
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Investments in roads, facilities, equipment, and technology
Efforts to listen, communicate with, and partner with residents
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
MAJOR FUND TYPES
ADOPTED BUDGET – ALL FUNDS
MILLION
Total Adopted Budget FY 2026-27
17%
$77M (15%)
$92M (17%) $77M (15%)
Infrastructure, Parks, Public Safety, equipment, and other voterapproved or dedicated resources
General Fund $362M (68%)
$92M (17%)
Core City services (e.g. police, fire, community development, streets operations)
Internal Service Funds
$56M – included as expenditures in funds above
Fleet, insurance, technology and other internal operations
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INCREASE OVER FY 2025-26
Special Revenue Funds
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
$531
BUDGET BY FUND CATEGORY Enterprise Funds $362M (68%) DOLLARS IN MILLIONS (AND % OF TOTAL) Utilities (water, sewer, power)
EXPENDITURES BY TYPE – ALL FUNDS Categories that drive budget expenditures
PERSONNEL SERVICES Increase due to collective bargaining agreements, added positions, and 3.00% COLA for non-represented employees to keep up with cost of living and encourage retention.
+33%
OPERATING EXPENDITURES Higher costs for goods and services, including inflation, increased self-insurance costs, additional ERP and technology expenditures, and higher operating expenses in Enterprise Funds.
EQUIPMENT Increase includes additional public safety equipment funded this year that was unsupported last year.
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+14%
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
All Funds FY 2026-27 Adopted Budget Salary & Benefits $145,161,342 Retiree Health Insurance 8,658,199 Operating Expenses 265,809,942 Equipment 7,048,843 Total Operating $426,678,326 Debt Services 24,352,395 Transfers Out 79,562,455 Contingency 647,700 Total Ependitures $531,240,876
+6%
What drives our costs?
Several key factors impact the cost of providing city services.
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
CONTRACTED SERVICES
Costs for professional services, maintenance, specialized support, and software continue to rise.
PERSONNEL COSTS Salaries, benefits, and retirement costs
INFLATION
Rising prices for goods, services, and supplies increase operating costs
REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
GROWTH & DEMAND
New mandates and higher standards drive costs
Community expectations and growing need for services increase demand.
DEFERRED MAINTENANCE
Once we get behind, it’s hard to catch up and often even more costly…
INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS
Aging assets require ongoing investment to maintain safety, reliability and service levels.
GENERAL FUND FY 2026-27 REVENUES: $92.3M
Other Revenue 0.0047
Taxes 33% COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
Fines & Court Fees 2% Charges for Services 4% Interfund Charges 6%
Licenses & Permits 7% PILOTS 29%
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Intergovernmental Revenue 8% Franchise Fees 10%
GENERAL FUND General Fund
355,000 490,000 $92,386,036
Expenditures
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Transfers Out Contingency Expenditure Total
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
FY 2026-27 Adopted Budget Salary & Benefits $63,250,373 Retiree Health Insurance 5,601,445 Operating Expenses 20,785,377 Equipment 84,371 Debt Services 1,819,470
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
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HOW GF DOLLARS ARE SPENT
How does Independence compare? General Fund spending per resident
Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Overland Park, Kansas
Population
120,922
107,514
30,689
211,000
General Fund Expenditures
$85,562,322
$100,854,584
$31,310,104
$356,400,000
General Fund Spending Per Resident
$707.58
$938.06
$1020.24
$1,689.10
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
Independence, Missouri
Most recent budget data for each city; population based on 2024 Census.gov data
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Independence provides General Fund services with lower spending per resident than the comparison cities.
Communities fund services differently
Comparing Independence’s major local revenue sources Independence, Missouri
Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Overland Park, Kansas
1.000%
$21,715,000
General
1.000%
$29,592,070
General
2.000%
$7,250,654
General
1.000%
$67,000,000
Fire Protection
0.500%
$11,211,000
Local Parks
0.250%
$6,979,148
Capital
0.500%
$3,463,230
Street
0.375%
$25,190,000
Parks Improvemen t
0.250%
$5,111,000
Capital Projects
0.500%
$14,560,299
Parks
.250%
$1,856,610
Total
1.375% $92,190,000
0.500%
$13,966,539
Fire
.250%
$1,856,610
Police Public Safety
0.125%
$2,904,000
Transportatio n
Prop PD
0.250%
$5,500,000
Public Safety
0.500%
$14,859,268
Transportation
.500%
$3,713,210
Total
2.750%
$79,957,324
Economic Dev
.375%
$2,784,910
Public Safety
.500%
$3,713,210
Total
4.375 %
$24,638,43 4
Street Improvemen t Stormwater Total
0.500% 0.250%
$5,050,000 $61,591,000
Independence relies on multiple voter-approved sales taxes.
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2.875 %
$10,100,000
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
General
Based on FY25-26 Budget Books
Property tax is only one part of the picture Independence, Missouri
Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Overland Park, Kansas
0.3301
General
0.7971
General
0.6518
General
1.3577
Parks & Public Health
0.1556
Parks & Recreation
0.1209
Parks & Recreation
0.1181
Stormwater
0.961
Debt Service
0.1800
Debt Service
0.3697
No additional
Total Property Tax Rate
0.6657
Total Property Tax Rate
1.2877
Total Property Tax Rate
0.7699
Total Property Tax Rate
1.4538
Total Property Tax Revenue
$8,951,895
Total Property Tax Revenue
$41,786,651
Total Property Tax Revenue
$7,447,642
Total Property Tax Revenue
$75,627,139
Total Assessed Value
$1,961,453,72 6
$3,480,000,000
Total Assessed Value
Total Assessed Value
$5,608,148,149
$1,975,795
$939,232,548
Levy rates and total collections vary substantially because assessed valuation and levy structure differ among cities.
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Estimated additional tax collected if Independence taxed personal property:
Total Assessed Value
No additional
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
General
Utility-Related General Fund Revenues Independence, Missouri
Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Overland Park, Kansas
Gas
$6,500,000
$3,535,682
$770,000
$1,325,160*
Telephone
$1,070,000
$919,265
$84,840
Water
$45,000
N/A
N/A
N/A
Electric
$610,000
$8,215,282
$2,275,000
$6,327,639*
Cable
$600,000
$371,937
$250,000
$2,749,707*
Subtotal
$8,825,000
$13,042,166
$3,379,840
$11,043,000
Water
$3,400,000
N/A
N/A
N/A
Electric/Power & Light
$16,000,000
N/A
N/A
Gas
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Sanitary Sewer
$3,750,000
N/A
N/A
N/A
Subtotal
$23,150,000
N/A
N/A
N/A
Grand Total
$31,975,000
$13,042,166
$3,379,840
$11,043,000
Franchise Fees
PILOTs
N/A
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*Estimated breakdown by fee type based on historical receipts.
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
$640,494*
Based on FY25-26 Budget Books
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
GENERAL FUND
Forecasted Revenues vs Expenditures
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
What Guides Our Budget Decisions?
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
ALLOCATING BASED ON PRIORITIES
THE BIG PICTURE
Connecting priorities to the work we fund
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
This is not meant to be a fixed project list. It gives us a consistent way to connect Council priorities and adopted plans to capital decisions, the annual budget, and day-to-day work.
COUNCIL
PLANS
5-YEAR PLAN
CIP + BUDGET
OPERATIONS
Priorities
Adopted strategies
Financial choices
Funded actions
Measured results
What this means for us
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As new ideas and funding requests come forward, we can use the same set of questions to weigh priorities, affordability, and long-term impacts — instead of starting from scratch each budget cycle.
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
OUR FIVE PRIORITIES Five principles to guide where we put our resources 01
02
03
04
05
Preserve existing public assets
Reduce nonessential debt & liability risk
Expand neighborhood stabilization
Maintain & improve quality of life
Protect financial sustainability
Take care of existing assets first and get a clear picture of deferred maintenance.
Be thoughtful about new debt while looking for opportunities to reduce existing obligations and strengthen reserves.
Bring demolition, redevelopment, and visible improvements together to strengthen neighborhoods.
Focus on parks, accessibility, safety, transportation, and amenities residents use and value.
Match ongoing costs with ongoing revenues and maintain healthy reserves.
A SIMPLE WAY TO TEST NEW IDEAS Three questions to ask before we commit funding
COMMUNITY BUDGET PRESENTATION
For any major proposal, these three questions help us have a consistent conversation:
1
Does it take care of what we have? Preserves an asset • reduces deferred maintenance • lowers liabilities or future costs
2
Can we afford it over time? Identifies recurring costs • matches recurring revenue • considers grants and alternatives
3
Does it move our priorities forward?
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Stabilizes neighborhoods • encourages private investment • improves safety, access, or identity
The goal is a consistent process that makes tradeoffs easier to see and keeps the budget connected to the bigger picture.
FINANCIAL GUARDRAILS COMMUNITY BUDGET PRESENTATION
A few guideposts help keep the plan sustainable
25–35%
1.0%+
Recurring ↔
Proposed minimum unrestricted General Fund reserve
Annual target of capital asset replacement value for renewal
Operating expenditures should be supported by recurring revenues
Reserve policies to strengthen General Fund reserve policy Actuarially supported Risk Management / Workers’ Compensation / Staywell targets
Debt can still be a useful tool. The key is weighing the need, cost, repayment source, useful life of the asset, and whether cash is better used elsewhere.
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Capital replacement reserves DEBT
Disciplined reserve-use rules
RESERVES
CAPITAL
HOW THE PLAN ROLLS OUT
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COMMUNITY BUDGET PRESENTATION
Build the foundation first, then increase investment
FY27
FY28
FY29
FY30
FY31
FOUNDATION
INVEST
ACCELERATE
ADJUST
RENEW
Policies, data, asset assessment, reserve targets
Visible initiatives + recurring contributions
Reduce backlog; refine priorities; pursue outside funding
Review results, affordability, risks, and priorities
Quantify outcomes and develop the next strategy
The idea is to get the basics in place first, then increase investment as our financial capacity and results support it.
HOW WE’LL KNOW IT’S WORKING Track a focused set of financial, asset, and community measures
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COMMUNITY BUDGET PRESENTATION
ASSETS
FINANCIAL
COMMUNITY
Deferred maintenance backlog
Debt service %
Dangerous structures removed
Pavement Condition Index
Insurance reserve funded ratio
Vacant property reduction
Facility Condition Index
General Fund reserve %
Private investment dollars
Capital reinvestment %
Structural operating surplus
Resident satisfaction
These measures give us a way to check whether our investments are actually improving assets, financial stability, and resident outcomes — and make adjustments when needed.
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COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
CONCLUSION • Budget maintains core City services while making targeted investments in public safety, neighborhoods, infrastructure support, internal operations, and organizational capacity. • Ongoing fiscal pressures are expected to continue to contribute to structural deficits: Health insurance costs (retiree + active) Retirement contributions Slow ongoing revenue growth
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
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Q & A Session
COMMUNITY BUDGET SESSION
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