Department leaders provide budget breakdowns as work sessions hit day two

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Budget preparations for fiscal year 2026 continued for a second day with finances for some of the city's key departments taking center stage at City Hall.

Tuesday's work session opened with a breakdown of spending and revenue plans for City Hall's administrative departments, including the City Manager's Office, City Clerk, Human Resources, Finance and the newly-created Technology Services Department.

The addition of new IT director Josh Royle -- part of a recent staff restructuring effort -- and a consolidated hardware purchasing plan have already helped create an additional 20% savings in cost, continuing the city's emphasis on more long-term cost planning to create financial flexibility and boost efficiency.

Discussions continued with leaders of the city's Planning and Community Development Department, newly-formed Civic Facilities Department and Parks and Recreation Department providing an overview of 2025 and the year ahead.

With a $22 million budget projected for next year, the parks department is in line to receive one of the biggest funding jumps, a $3.2 million increase primarily for large capital projects and parks maintenance.  The parks department managed a staggering 90 capital projects this past year alone valued at more than $44 million.

"We've asked for additional funding this year for security systems for some of our facilities. We're going to be renovating so many of the facilities, and we're investing a lot of money into them," St. Joseph Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Atkins said. "In year's past we haven't had adequate security systems ... we're going to hopefully take big strides to correct that issue."

Atkins said vandalism and property damage continue to be the biggest challenge for the department, with incidents plaguing facilities throughout the park system. New cameras, lock systems and other security measures are being pursued.

Planning and Community Development Director Clint Thompson provided a thorough review of planned policy changes aimed at facilitating new housing and rental properties by incentivizing developers, including a new rental rehab program.

Thompson's department is expected to see an 8% budget increase next year to $6.4 million to help support heightened efforts to attract and develop housing in St. Joseph. The department will see an additional funding increase of $150,000 to address dangerous buildings.

Monday's work session marked the second of four public budget meetings scheduled to take place at City Hall over the next eight days. A finalized budget is expected to go before City Council for first reading on May 27 followed by a final vote on June 9.

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