GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The City of Grand Rapids is unveiling its $785.4 million budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
On Tuesday, City Manager Mark Washington highlighted that the budget is focused on supporting major community assets and managing financial pressure facing the economy.
“This plan reflects our commitment to responsible stewardship, high-quality service delivery, and long-term resilience while ensuring we continue advancing priorities residents care about most,” Washington said.
The proposed budget focuses on reducing the existing property millage by 1.2% or .1074 mills. If this plan is adopted, this would be the third year in a row that the city manager has worked to decrease the property millage rate.
Don’t count on seeing a decrease in your tax bill because property values continue to climb here in GR.
To give you an idea of how far a dollar goes when the city collects your property taxes, Grand Rapids presented a graph of how it’s divided up.
- 32¢ General Fund
- 24¢ Library Fund
- 19¢ Refuse Fund
- 13¢ Capital Investment
- 12¢ Paks Fund
The General Fund is $206.7 million of the $785.4 million of the overall budget.
Washington is proposing that the city spend $75.4 million from the general fund for the Grand Rapids Police Department, including $1.3 million for 10 additional officers to be added late in the 2026 budget cycle.
The city outlined other parts of the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, which begins July 1 and runs until June 30, 2027. Highlights include:
- $48.3 million for Fire services.
- $48 million for the Vital Streets program
- $400,000 for crime prevention efforts
- $40.4 million for Parks and Community Services
- No changes to the hourly rate for on-street parking
- The maximum charge for event parking will remain $25
- The monthly parking rate for city-owned lots will increase in line with cost of living
- $11.4 million for private lead service line replacement
- $100,000 for a disaster relief fund in partnership with United Way
- $201.6 million for Water and Wastewater
- $17.8 million for the Grand Rapids Public Library
- $21.1 million for Refuse and Recycling programs
The city is carefully watching how much it spends in overtime following going over budget the last two years.
The city is looking to spend $8.3 million on police and fire OT in 2027. The problem is that it doesn’t meet the actual amount over the past couple of years.
After looking at the numbers, in 2025, OT cost the two departments 11.6 million. Then, in 2026, it cost $13.1 million.
Washington says the city is conducting a public-safety overtime study.
The city manager says it's too early to tell what the impact is going to be when the new the amphitheater opens next month, and the soccer stadium opens next year.
“Police funding and fire funding have increased pretty significantly. So before we increase it even more for overtime, I want to try to have those departments better manage their overtime and staffing issues, see if we can leverage additional support from other agencies, as well as see what other sources of funding exist,” Washington said.
The city is also looking to put $10 million towards affordable housing. The money was made available after the city sold a former city site at 201 Market. The location where the new Acrisure Amphitheater is now.
“That contribution will come to you probably in May as a budget amendment to be able to send that cash out into our affordable housing fund at the Community Foundation,” Washington said.
City Commissioners are scheduled to hold a budget workshop on May 12, then a public hearing later that same day.
If commissioners agree with the recommendation, the budget could be adopted as early as May 19.
