Cleveland City Council Passes 2026 Budget

Mar 23, 2026

Cleveland City Council passed the 2026 annual budget. By law, Council must approve a budget by April 1st.

Council and the Bibb Administration had agreed to reconciliation amendments allocating an additional $17.5 million from the City's Operating Budget and other revenue sources to fund Council priority projects in infrastructure, housing, safety, parks and recreation as well as other areas. 

The City ended 2025 with healthy reserves: $73 million in its payroll reserve fund and 
nearly $70.3 million in its rainy-day fund, which is nearing the state-mandated maximum. The City also carried over $92.25 million from its 2025 General Fund. The majority of the carryover will be made available to fund Capital Projects and will be reimbursed when bond funding is approved for each project. Unencumbered cash is projected to be $2,064,499. Read more.

The amendments included:  

Infrastructure and Neighborhood Vitality   

•  Adding $8 million from the Capital Improvement Plan to street resurfacing, bringing the total 2026 investment to $20 million. 

• Allocating $4.5 million in Neighborhood Equity Fund (NEF) dollars to provide $300,000 to fund local priorities in each of the City’s 15 wards.

• Shifting $250,000 for the Summer Sprouts to the General Fund to ensure the program's long-term stability and allow participating residents to potentially sell produce and earn a profit. 

Safety, Housing, and Quality of Life 

• Using ARPA funds as the primary source to invest $1 million into a Receivership Program to address neglected, unsightly properties and $500,000 to pay Legal Aid to help keep residents in their homes.

• Providing the Vacant and Abandoned Property Action Council (VAPAC) with an additional $25,000 to expand its development of housing policies that protect Cleveland homeowners and renters 

• Funding an additional Electrical Safety Inspector.

• Allocating $10,000 to each Police District so they can host community events and programs that build stronger relationships with our communities. 

• Hiring two additional firefighters. 

Investing in People and Parks 

• Hiring 10 Park Maintenance positions and 5 Arborists for Urban Forestry.

• Adding $500,000 to the Youth Opportunities Unlimited contract for its summer jobs program to ensure our young people have productive, paid work opportunities. 

Other Investments  

• Using $1 million in Restricted Income Tax revenue to purchase a new facilitymaintenance software system to better track the maintenance and review of city properties, and more efficiently assign work on them to the City’s employees or contracted partners.

• Hiring a Junior Executive Assistant for each City Council Member’s office. 

• Setting aside $75,000 to help fund an additional Class A event in each ward. 

On January 1, Cleveland City Council reduced its membership from 17 to 15, increasing the size of each ward. Additional funding for events, executive assistants, and ward operations reflects the expanded responsibilities of serving larger constituencies. The reconciliation amendments focused on the nuts and bolts of city management: fixing the streets, maintaining green spaces, and protecting our most vulnerable neighbors. These services may not be as glamorous as other things the city does, but to our residents, they are some of the most important. Ord. No. 117-2026