Proposed $630,050 budget patch covers police, fire and street overruns

Police, fire and street operations recorded about $629,370 more in costs than their listed departmental budgets for Starkville's fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Finance staff's proposed response: add a combined $630,050 to those three budgets while shifting money out of other lines.⁠[1]

The proposal in the city's October 20 meeting packet would add $313,390 to police, $212,435 to fire and $104,225 to streets. These are adjustments to the fiscal year that already ended—not the new year's spending plan.⁠[1]

The explanations put familiar operating costs behind the numbers. Police needed budget room for personnel, fuel, prisoner jail expenses, vehicle repairs and Cotton District supplies and professional services, according to the schedule. Fire's explanation cites additional personnel and overtime costs. The street adjustment cites additional street-lighting utility costs.⁠[1]

The reshuffle would leave the total General Fund expenditure budget unchanged at $33,040,583. Among the offsets, it would reduce the line labeled “Beginning Fund Balance and Contingency” by $306,220, Human Resources by $102,375 and Engineering by $62,500. The schedule describes the latter two reductions as reallocating excess budget to cover other costs.⁠[1]

The departmental overruns do not mean the General Fund exceeded its overall spending budget. The September report lists $30,168,936.59 in fiscal-year expenditures—about $2.87 million below budget—and $30,058,562.75 in revenue and other receipts. That leaves a reported $110,373.84 deficit for the year's activity. It measures receipts against expenditures; it does not, by itself, establish the fund's ending cash or fund balance.⁠[1]

The October 20 agenda asked Starkville's Mayor and Board of Aldermen to accept the September financial statements and consider the FY2026 budget adjustments. These agenda materials establish the requests, not whether aldermen approved either one.⁠[1][2]