Mayor John Horhn called his proposed general fund budget for fiscal 2027 "flat." The number he put before the City Council's Finance Committee on Aug. 10 was $112.9 million. By the city's own math, that is 16.8 percent smaller than the $135.7 million budget adopted last September, according to WLBT's account of the hearing.

The gap is not a mystery. Jackson ended last fall by cutting a budget it had already written after realizing a $23 million revenue shortfall. CFO Jillian Caldwell told the committee the city leaned on $11 million in one-time money, a fund balance draw, and transfers to close that year. Those funds are not expected to be available again.

Caldwell also told the committee the city has been deficit spending for years, with the previous administration spending about $17.4 million more than it collected in 2024 and 2025. The proposed budget, she said, "right-sizes spending to match what we actually expect to collect."

The tension in the room was not over the spending side. It was over whether the revenue side of the flat budget is realistic.

Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay pointed at the $37.5 million the budget expects to raise in property tax. In fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025, the city never collected more than $36.5 million, she said, and this year looks like it will fall short of that. Budget Manager Brandon Jackson answered that the figure comes from Hinds County, which collects the tax on the city's behalf, and that the final number will not arrive until about the end of August.

Finance Chair Kevin Parkinson raised a smaller but sharper example. The budget projects $218,000 in revenue from delinquent personal taxes. Through June 30 the city had collected $124,674, and in all of 2025 it collected $72,689. He suggested the projection be revised down.

The health insurance line is where the cost pressure is most visible. The city expects to spend about $20.3 million on employee and dependent health insurance this fiscal year, up from $19.1 million in fiscal 2025. Caldwell said medical and prescription claims make up 91 to 93 percent of the cost, and the city's share of the plan has climbed to 83 percent, up from 77 percent last year.

Horhn framed the insurance and pension costs as the structural problem. "Our healthcare costs are going through the roof," he said, noting the city pays 100 percent of employee premiums and 75 to 80 percent for dependents. He floated hiring a benefits consultant.

Public safety still takes more than half of the general fund. The police and fire departments each went before the council later in the week, with Police Chief RaShall Brackney warning that a proposed cut of nearly $5 million would be hard to absorb and Fire Chief Thomas asking for $1.6 million more for firefighters.

The budget must be adopted by Sept. 15. A public hearing on the proposed budget and tax levy is set for Aug. 28, with adoption expected in early September.

The question the council has not yet answered is whether the flat budget is flat enough. If property tax and delinquent collections come in below the projections, the city will be back where it started last fall, writing down a budget it had already balanced on paper.

The revenue numbers are due from Hinds County by the end of August. That is the date that will tell whether Jackson's flat budget holds.