2026 Budget approved

Published on September 03, 2025

The Lenexa City Council voted to approve the 2026 Recommended Budget at its meeting on Sept. 2, 2025. The approved budget features the City’s eighth consecutive property tax rate reduction and conservative funding for high-quality services and capital projects.  

Budget highlights 

The total budget for 2026 is $260.6 million — $172.9 million in general operating expenses and $87.7 million for projected reserves. The property tax rate is estimated to be 26.209 mills, a decrease of 0.750 mill from the 2025 mill levy of 26.959 mills. Sales and use tax collections are estimated conservatively, and there are no proposed fee adjustments.  

Increased expenditures from the 2026 Budget include: 

• Funding for employee compensation increases/adjustments to help retain and recruit staff in a competitive job market. 
• Additional funding for contractional services, commodities and capital outlay due to inflationary pressures and tariff impacts.  
• Transfers to finance the approved Capital Improvement Program and equipment replacement.  
• Additional funding for new debt issued to finance capital projects. 
• Increases in Tax Increment Financing and Community Improvement District funds. These expenditures are “pass-through” funds that reimburse developers for eligible costs within certain development districts. They are not for city operations.  

Building the budget 

Lenexa achieves positive financial results and top credit ratings by adhering to longstanding budget principles. City leaders also weighed these key influences: 

• A strong local economy with stable revenue and ongoing development activity. 
• National economic uncertainty and higher costs for contractual services, commodities and capital projects due to inflation, elevated interest rates and new tariffs. 
• Potential for slower growth. 
• New state or federal laws that could negatively impact City revenue.  
• The City’s commitment to providing exceptional services to the residents and businesses of Lenexa.  
• Recruiting and retaining staff in the current job market. 

Public input is a pivotal part of each year’s budget process. Staff provided an ongoing list of responses to budget-related questions(PDF, 216KB) from residents on the website. Residents were also invited to share input on the 2026 Budget during public hearings on Sept. 2.  

What’s next?  

The final version of the budget document will be posted at Lenexa.com/Budget after the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) process wraps up near the end of the year. The CIP allocates funding and sets a tentative schedule for community infrastructure projects over a five-year period. The Lenexa City Council will begin study of the 2026–2030 CIP in November.