(Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Village Council to vote on $20 million budget for 2027
- Published: November 9, 2026
After months of meetings involving tough discussions, debates and planning, Village Council is nearing the finish line of passing a municipal budget for 2027.
At the group’s next regular meeting, scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16, Council will vote to approve a budget of $20,689,366.
With those expenses outpacing next year’s estimated revenues of $18,996,160, the Village may need to dip into its cash reserves of $15.6 million.
$6.2 million is being appropriated for the general fund — the Village’s primary financial well for government operations, such as Village Council, administrative and police operations, and which bankrolls all municipal services beyond self-sustaining utilities. With expenses again outpacing revenues, there is a projected $983,234 deficit in the general fund.
The general fund’s largest expense is for Yellow Springs Police which is expected to operate at $2.38 million the coming year — the largest budget the department has ever had. The second largest chuck of the general fund is administrative personnel costs at $916,925.
As the News has previously reported, the Village budgets for the general fund as if all administrative positions are filled and each staffer takes full advantage of employment benefits available to them; at present, the positions of Village manager, assistant manager, public works director and finance director are either vacant or filled by an interim figure.
This “conservative approach” — as characterized in the past by Council President Gavin DeVore Leonard and the Village’s primary financial consultant Tiffany Hiser, of the Shared Resource Center — of over-anticipating expenses and under-projecting revenues, tends to negate deficits by a fiscal year’s end. Yellow Springs began 2026 with a deficit budget, which is expected to be balanced by the end of the year, per a recent memo issued to Council.
That same memo characterized next year’s general fund as operating with a “status quo” budget, with some notable exceptions: the inclusion of $80,000 for the execution of a strategic plan for the Village; $15,000 for a wetland delineation study of Glass Farm; $27,500 for an accessibility assessment of Village-owned right-of-ways and facilities; and a $100,000 capital improvement plan spread across multiple utility budgets.
The largest portion of the 2027 budget is the enterprise funds: water, electric, sewer, solid waste and storm water — $10.2 million is being appropriated for those funds, all of which are expected to operate on a balanced budget, except for storm water and sewer. Those two funds’ expenses are anticipated to be greater than the revenue generated by consumer fees, tap fees and reimbursements.
Coming in as the third largest portion of the budget are the special revenue funds, for which the Village is appropriating $2.3 million for next year. The largest special revenue fund is for street maintenance and repair, at $946,929, followed by parks and recreation, at $871,370. Of note, the affordable housing fund is budgeted to have $155,473 in it.
Lastly, there’s the $1.7 million capital project fund: $728,200 for sewer improvements, $372,810 for facilities improvements, $319,220 for parks and recreation improvements, $309,000 for electric improvements and $70,400 for the water capital fund.
A wide array of projects is planned for next year. Some among them include:
• Installing new backstops for the softball and baseball diamonds at Gaunt Park, costing around $100,000.
• Improving the Bryan Center roof, also costing around $100,000.
• Installing a $25,000 accessible ramp to the Village-owned building on Walnut Street, that the Community Foundation rents.
• Contracting with a consultant to address matters of accessibility compliance throughout Yellow Springs for $18,500 per year.
• Rehabilitating the Village’s sanitary sewer system with a “slip lining” process, costing $300,000.
• Continuing sidewalk repairs for $20,000 and replacing some curbs for $40,000.
• Upgrading tornado sirens for $75,000.
In other Village Council business—
Housing ‘listening session’ planned
In lieu of the regularly planned work session preceding the next Village Council meeting on Nov, 16, the group will instead host a “listening session,” in which community members are encouraged to speak on all matters pertaining to housing in Yellow Springs.
As it’s still in the planning phases, it’s unclear when the session will begin — likely between 4 and 5 p.m. — but it will end at 6 p.m., when the regular Council session will commence.
Per a memo from Council Vice President Angie Hsu, the format of the session will be similar to the “citizens concerns” portion of Council meetings, in that those wishing to speak will have three minutes. After all have spoken, Council members will have the opportunity to ask questions for clarification or further information. The goal of the session, the memo states, is to give Council members additional information and community feedback ahead of a future housing retreat.
“The format is intended to give equal airtime for anyone interested, but also for a different form of back-and-forth with questions from Council,” Hsu’s memo reads.
Further information on this listening session will be published in the News ahead of the intended time and date. Until then, interested local residents are encouraged to send in their comments, questions or concerns to clerk@yellowsprings.gov.
Flour and sugar distribution set
At Council’s last meeting, Nov. 2, the group passed the annual resolution of approving $1,000 to spend on flour and sugar, to be distributed the week of Thanksgiving to the widows and widowers living in Yellow Springs.
The annual distribution of flour and sugar is in its 132nd year. It was a holiday tradition started by Wheeling Gaunt, a formerly enslaved man who purchased his freedom and became an enterprising and generous philanthropist in Yellow Springs until his death in 1894.
In his will, Gaunt bequeathed a nine-acre tract of land to the Village — now Gaunt Park — and stipulated that any funds generated from this land were to be used to buy and distribute flour every Christmas to the “just and worthy widows” of Yellow Springs. That stipulation was later broadened to include sugar, and to benefit widowers as well.
One Response to “Village Council to vote on $20 million budget for 2027”
The Yellow Springs News encourages respectful discussion of this article.
You must login to post a comment.
Don't have a login? Register for a free YSNews.com account.
The flour and sugar distribution is one of the coolest things about my former village. This program captured my imagination when I first learned of Wheeling Gaunt in 2nd grade at Mills Lawn. I am grateful the Village maintains the program and continues to honor Gaunt’s wishes.