Mayor Joe Hogsett told reporters Monday morning that the city’s $50 million match for state road funding will come from existing revenue, and declined repeatedly to say what spending it would displace. Twenty-eight minutes later, his communications office emailed an itemized plan to one of the reporters who had asked.

The exchange came at a 10:30 a.m. media availability ahead of tonight’s introduction of the 2027 city budget, which the council takes up along with a vote on overriding Hogsett’s veto of Proposal 192, the vehicle excise surtax and wheel tax increase.

Hogsett described the arrangement as $50 million from the city and $50 million from the state, calling it “a very important investment that we’re making in infrastructure.” Asked three times by Fox59’s Russ McQuaid what the city’s share would be taken from, the mayor said the money “will come right out of the budget” but did not identify a program or line item. Asked whether the match was new revenue or existing revenue, Hogsett said, “That’s existing revenue.” The availability ended there.

At 10:58 a.m., Deputy Director of Communications Emily Kaufmann emailed McQuaid what she described as the administration’s plan to meet the match, writing that it “has been shared with the Council on multiple occasions.” The plan has four parts:

  • $10 million of local income tax growth already allocated in the 2026 budget
  • Growing that income tax allocation to $20 million in the 2027 budget
  • $5 million from stormwater fees to support surface drainage aspects of new transportation projects
  • $25 million to be allocated through the 2027 spring fiscal ordinance

By that accounting, half the match is not in the budget being introduced tonight. The $25 million would come through a fiscal ordinance the council would not take up until spring 2027, and the email does not identify a revenue source for it.

The timing matters because of a deadline. Under the state law authorizing the $50 million distribution, the city must notify the state comptroller by Dec. 31 that it will meet the match. Miss the match in any year and the city is ineligible for the distribution in all subsequent years. The required local share rises to $70 million in 2028 and continues climbing after that.

The recitals in Proposal 192 tie the local match to a new revenue source under state law as amended this year. Two of the four components the administration listed involve money from taxes and fees the city already collects, including $10 million already appropriated in the current budget.

Kaufmann’s assertion that the plan has been shared with the council repeatedly echoes Hogsett’s July veto message, which said the administration had already provided its plan. Council President Maggie Lewis said at the time the mayor should produce one. On Aug. 5, Denise Herd, a spokeswoman for Lewis, said in a statement attributed to council Democratic leadership that the city had not fully identified resources for the match and warned of service cuts and staffing reductions in the 2027 budget.

McQuaid’s question — what in the budget does not get funded — is still unanswered.

The budget is formally introduced to the Council this evening.