Livonia's $235 Million Budget, Explained

What you pay, where it goes, and how it has changed since 2024

Livonia Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan sent City Council her proposed budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year on Sept. 15. The city's fiscal year runs Dec. 1 through Nov. 30, so this budget covers Dec. 1, 2026, to Nov. 30, 2027.

The proposal totals about $235 million across all city funds. Council's Finance and Budget Committee was scheduled to review it Sept. 21, and a public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Here is what's in it, in plain terms, and how it compares with the city's budgets from the past two years.

The short version

• The General Fund, which pays for many day-to-day services, including police, fire and city offices, is $77.8 million. That's up about 1% from last year.
• The proposed city tax rate is 13.6841 mills, slightly lower than last year's 13.7134.
• Police and fire together account for nearly 63% of General Fund spending.
• The city plans $6.8 million in building repairs and improvements and $15.3 million in road work.
• The budget includes a 4.5% cost-of-living raise for all employees.

First, what is a "mill"?

A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a property's taxable value. Taxable value is usually lower than what a home would sell for.

At the proposed rate of 13.6841 mills, a home with a taxable value of $100,000 would pay about $1,368 to the city. That covers only the city's share. Your full tax bill also includes schools, Wayne County and other taxing authorities.

Livonia's city rate has changed like this over three years:

The jump between 2024–25 and 2025–26 came from the refuse and recycling millages. In at least the two prior years, the city had levied those two taxes a combined 0.6 mills below the maximum allowed under state tax limits. The adopted 2025–26 budget raised both to the maximum allowed, an increase of about $59 a year per $100,000 of taxable value. After small Headlee reductions to other millages, the total city rate rose about $55 per $100,000.

The mayor's September 2025 budget letter had proposed keeping those rates below the maximum. The rates listed in the final adopted budget book were higher. The 2025–26 budget letter had warned that trash contract costs and a landfill repair would most likely require a higher refuse millage in future years.

Livonia's 2024–25 budget described its city tax rate as the lowest in Wayne County, 13% below the next lowest. This year's budget ranks it second lowest, behind Plymouth.

This year's slight decrease comes from the Headlee Amendment, a provision of the Michigan Constitution. When property values rise faster than inflation, it automatically trims tax rates. Residential taxable values rose 4.4% this year while inflation was 2.7%, according to the budget letter.

Where the General Fund money comes from

The General Fund is expected to take in $77.8 million:

Property tax revenue is up $1.7 million because property values rose. Most of that gain is offset by two losses. The state is sending Livonia $866,000 less in revenue sharing after redirecting money to roads. Court fine revenue is also expected to drop because there are fewer criminal and traffic cases.

Where it goes

"Everything else" includes the mayor's office, clerk, treasurer, legal, elections, senior services, Greenmead, $1 million for payouts to departing employees and $1 million set aside for damage claims against the city.

Police spending appears to drop 3.5%, mostly because equipment and vehicle purchases are no longer in the General Fund. Some moved to other city funds and some were not funded. Police operating costs are down less than 1%. Fire operating costs are up about 6%.

How the General Fund has changed

Revenue growth has slowed each year. The budget letter says the city is keeping staffing levels frozen and requiring "added scrutiny" before filling vacant positions.

Fixing aging buildings

City buildings have been a recurring theme in all three budgets, and the estimated price tag keeps growing:

• 2024–25 budget: almost $100 million in building needs over 10 years
• 2025–26 budget: $104 million
• 2026–27 budget: more than $125 million

This year's plan spends $6.8 million from the Building Improvement Fund: - $2.1 million for police and fire buildings - $1.7 million in projects managed by public works, including a $750,000 roof for the Eddie Edgar ice arena - $1.5 million for City Hall and its annex - $1.5 million to demolish the old courthouse and senior center

The fund's main new revenue is about $2.4 million a year in savings from moving retirees 65 and older into a Medicare Advantage plan in late 2022. The rest of this year's spending comes from money the fund has already built up. The city has described the purpose of those savings differently each year:

• 2024–25: set aside to make payments on bonds for a new City Hall, which the budget said would be issued that year.
• 2025–26: set aside for improvements to city facilities generally. The letter noted $1.7 million had been spent on studies and designs for the Civic Center campus, including a future police department, City Hall and library.
• 2026–27: transferred into the Building Improvement Fund for current repairs, with the option of borrowing against it later.

This year's budget letter does not mention a new City Hall. A proposed new police headquarters was debated this spring. This budget includes about $1.15 million for police facilities, including new air handlers and boilers at the police station and new roofs at the gun range.

Departments asked for $80.7 million in equipment and projects this year, and the budget recommends $43.3 million. Requests not included are a $1.3 million fire engine, seven marked patrol cars and a $27 million rebuild of the public works yard.

Things that have shifted since last year

Cable TV. The city's cable department is funded by fees cable companies pay, and those fees keep shrinking as residents drop cable. Last year's budget planned to cut the department from four full-time positions to two through attrition. This year's budget cuts it from four to three and adds a $155,000 transfer from the General Fund to keep the fund from running a deficit.

The courthouse. The 16th District Court pays the debt on its building through fees charged to defendants. Two years ago, the city budgeted a $150,000 General Fund contribution to cover the gap. Last year's budget said no help was needed because those fees were expected to rise. This year, the budget says fines are declining and the court building fund will use its savings to make payments. The city says it will work with the court on long-term funding.

Plymouth Road. The Plymouth Road Development Authority had lost the ability to capture tax growth because property values fell below 1994 levels. Council reset that baseline in December 2025. The authority expects more than $400,000 from the new plan in 2026–27, plus about $900,000 from its separate 2-mill tax on business properties in the district.

The landfill. The city has known for years that the membrane and gas containment system at its landfill leaks. The estimated cost to fix it has risen from $2.2 million in the 2024–25 budget to $2.5 million last year to $2.7 million now. This year's budget funds the repair.

Savings accounts: projections vs. reality

Livonia keeps money in dozens of separate funds, and each budget projects how much will be left in them. Those projections have run low. For example, the 2024–25 budget projected these balances for Nov. 30, 2025. The actual numbers, reported in this year's budget, came in higher:

The city also amends its budget during the year, which can change fund balances.

The General Fund savings cushion is about 25% of annual spending, up from 23.8% in last year's budget. That's above the 16.7% minimum recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association, a national group of public finance officials. The city says the cushion helps protect its AA bond rating.

Water and sewer

Each of the last three budget letters describes the water and sewer fund as "balanced," and assumes rates will be adjusted to pass along increases from Wayne County and the Great Lakes Water Authority. The fund's projected savings, however, have grown each year, reaching a projected $51.5 million by November 2027. Tables within this year's budget show different figures for how much more the fund will take in than it spends.

This year's water and sewer projects include $3.3 million for water main replacement, $1.7 million for lead service line replacement and $1 million for sewer lining.

What happens next

City Council's public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 5. The Finance and Budget Committee's review will be reported at Council's regular meeting on Oct. 26.

Sources: City of Livonia proposed budget for fiscal year 2026–27 (Finance and Budget Committee agenda packet, Sept. 21, 2026) and adopted budgets for fiscal years 2024–25 and 2025–26.