By Pat Davis and Jesse Jones, The Route 66 Independent – For years, Edgewood commissioners have relied on leftover Covid-era federal government handouts and previous year budget surpluses to pay for new town services including police, parks, events and streets without raising the taxes to fund them long-term. With just a month until the end fiscal year ends in June, commissioners and staff are now scrambling to fill a nearly $2 million year-end budget gap are they are running out of time – and options – to fix it.
Rumors of overspending and misallocated expenses that have long circulated through town hall were finally laid bare on May 22 as Clerk-Treasurer/Deputy Manager, Misty Witt initially told commissioners the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, ending June 30, was “looking at budget deficit $4 or 5 million,” though the estimate was revised down to about $1.7 million by the time the meeting ended.
As the Route 66 Independent reported last year, the current year budget was approved in July 2025 – a month after the state’s June 1 deadline – with $12 million in expenses and only $9 million in new revenue expected. To make up the gap, commissioners relied on reserves from unspent funds in previous years and more than $1 million remaining in federal funds from the Covid-era “American Rescue Plan.” For years, the town’s commissioners have approved unbalanced budgets in much the same manner, but that doesn’t sit well with the new Commissioner Devon Taylor and new city administrators. “What we spent year to date compared to what we have coming in it will be a negative $3.8 [million] with the adjusted recommended budget at $10.7 [million], which is a lowering of $3.1 from the prior fiscal year,” Taylor noted. “Using that $10.789 [million] number and the same $9 million revenue [this year, the deficit] right now is currently showing $1.7 [million].”
With just a month until year-end, the town has few options to fill the current gap. “We have a reserve in the bank,” Witt told commissioners. She said it is enough to “cover for our deficit that Commissioner Taylor’s been talking about, our over expenditure,” for the current year.
To create a balanced budget for FY 2027, beginning July 1, commissioners have just a few days remaining to decide how to get to a balanced budget for the next year. “I don’t believe in raising taxes to pay for the mistakes that were made,” Commissioner Stephen Murillo opined. Without new revenue on the table, commissioners directed Town Manager Kelly Hamilton and department directors to identify recommended cuts across all departments and prepare a balanced budget for commissioners to review and possibly approve at Tuesday night’s meeting. The public is invited to public comment by signing up before the a new budget workshop begins at 5:00 p.m. in the Town Hall chambers. The regular commission meeting, which could include approval of a final budget, begins at 6 p.m.