Columbia City Council approves 2025 budget with deficit | Mid-Missouri News [Video]

The Columbia City Council voted to approve the fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget at Monday night’s meeting. The total proposed spending for fiscal year 2025, which starts Oct. 1, is around $562 million dollars. But the city is only set to make $539 million in revenue, meaning the approved budget sits at a $23 million deficit.

• Total Revenue: $539,046,424
• Total Expenditures: $562,697,174
  • Operating Expenditures: $528,230,417
  • Capital Improvement Projects: $34,466,757
• Deficit: -$23,650,750

The fiscal year 2025 budget is a 3% increase from the fiscal year 2024 budget of $546,300,283. Despite running a deficit, De’Carlon Seewood, Columbia’s city manager, says the growth isn’t actually all that much.

“We’re not saying, ‘Alright, we’re going off the cliff,'” Seewood said. “But, we need to make sure we’re minding and looking at what we’re doing to make sure we’re managing correctly. And so, when we talk about a 3% growth in our budget, in our overall budget, that’s not a substantial increase. That’s actually …